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FULL-TIME, Napoli 1-1 Barcelona: Bad first half, mediocre second, a really stupid red card by Vidal and one away goal. What a weird game.
88min: RED CARD! Arturo Vidal is sent off for a quick double booking, first for a hard foul on Mário Rui followed by a dumb headbutt on the Napoli full-back. Barça wll play the final minutes with 10 men.
GOAL!!! Napoli 1-1 Barcelona (Griezmann 57’): BARÇA EQUALIZE!!! Great sequence of possession followed by a SPECTACULAR pass from Sergio Busquets to Nélson Semedo, who gives Antoine Griezmann a tap-in.
SECOND HALF KICKOFF! Napoli 1-0 Barcelona: Come on, boys! Let’s get better and find a goal!
HALFTIME, Napoli 1-0 Barcelona: All the possession, tons of passes, no chances, no shots on target. Barça played a very bad and boring first half in Naples.
GOAL, Napoli 1-0 Barcelona (Mertens 30’): Napoli take the lead. Mistake by Junior Firpo who gives the ball away to Zielinski, his cross into the box isn’t cleared and the ball arrives at the feet of Dries Mertens, who curls a beauty into the top corner.
23min: It’s a very tactical game so far, with Napoli well structured at the back and Barça having a lot of patient possession trying to find spaces. No chances for either side so far.
KICKOFF! Napoli 0-0 Barcelona: And we’re underway! Come on, boys, let’s make a strong start!
LINEUPS
BARCELONA
Starting XI: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Umtiti, Firpo; Rakitic, Busquets, De Jong, Vidal; Messi, Griezmann (4-4-2)
Bench: Neto (GK), Lenglet, Araujo, Akieme, Arthur, Riqui Puig, Ansu Fati
NAPOLI
Starting XI: Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Manolas, Maksimovic, Mário Rui; Fabián, Demme, Zielinski; Callejón, Mertens, Insigne (4-3-3)
Bench: Meret (GK), Luperto, Hysaj, Allan, Elmas, Politano, Milik
WELCOME TO THE STADIO SAN PAOLO!!! The historic home of Napoli is the site of a gigantic UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg between the Italian hosts and La Liga champions Barcelona, who come into this one in great form and looking for a big win ahead of the second leg and a giant El Clásico at the weekend. This should be a great game, and you’re welcome to join us to follow and comment all the action. LET’S LIVE BLOG!
(Note: the comments will be open only when the team news come out, because our commenter people love commenting and sometimes there are too many comments in the comments section)
MATCH INFO
Competition/Round: 2019-20 Champions League, Round of 16, 1st Leg
Date/Time: Tuesday, February 25, 2020, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8pm GMT (UK), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 1.30am IST (India, Wednesday)
Venue: Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
HOW TO WATCH, STREAM UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
How to watch on TV: TUDN (USA), BT Sport 3 (UK), SONY TEN 2 (India), SuperSport 3 (Nigeria), Movistar Liga de Campeones (Spain), others
How to stream: B/R Live, fuboTV (USA), DAZN (Canada), BT Sport Live (UK), Movistar+ (Spain), others
Matchday Thread Rules
We don’t have a lot of rules here, but there are a few things to keep in mind when joining our matchday threads:
Even if the referee sucks or we lose the game, be careful with the swearing. It’s just unnecessary. Also, don’t discuss illegal streaming links. Those who do it will be warned, and those who post links will be instantly banned. Finally, be nice to each other. This is a Barcelona community and we don’t need to offend one another.
Have fun with the game! Forever and ever, no matter the competition, VISCA EL BARÇA!