Barcelona 1-1 Napoli: Three Things We Learned

Two giants of European football, Barcelona and Napoli, met last night in a fascinating battle – but not in the Champions League. The Europa League was the competition calling both sides in what can easily be described as a tie we wouldn’t have pictured in the UEL, even just a few years ago.

The end result was a 1-1 draw with Piotr Zielinski initially giving the visitors an unlikely lead. Alas, it didn’t last beyond the hour mark with Ferran Torres scoring from the spot to ensure we head into the second leg with things all tied up.

Barca dominate

With 67% possession and 21 shots on goal, Barcelona were good value for the draw – and arguably should’ve been able to go on and seal the win. They didn’t, though, raising some questions as to whether or not they’ll be able to break down their Italian foes in Naples next week. Still, it was a positive showing, which continues the trend set by Xavi Hernandez in recent games.

Napoli show resilience

Napoli are one of the best defensive teams not only in Italy but on the entire continent. They’re tough to get past and this was perfect evidence of that, with a penalty being required to bring the tie level. They may not be able to score in the return leg but even if they don’t, simply holding on will be enough to get through to extra time – and from there, it truly is anyone’s guess as to what’ll happen.

Away goals query

The scrapping of the away goals rule is something that created a polarising reaction from many football fans across the globe. In the view of many, it was unnecessary and outlived its usefulness – but games like this is where we disagree. A 0-0 in the return fixture would, with the away goals rule implemented, lead to Napoli going through. Now, Barcelona know that they’ll be comfortably heading into ET even if it’s goalless after 90 minutes.

Call us crazy, but we want it back.