Hello and welcome to LIVE coverage of Napoli v Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League. This is the first leg, with the return match taking place in the distant future (18 March, to be precise). Barcelona have some Champions League demons to exorcise after those shocking collapses against Roma and Liverpool in the last two seasons. At least they play the away leg first time. Kick off is at 8pm UK time, 9pm in Naples, and we’ll have team news shortly.
Champions League / Last 16
Stadio Diego Armando Maradona / 25.02.2020
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- D. Mertens(30')
- A. Griezmann(57')
Live
Live Updates
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Updated 25/02/2020 at 21:56 GMT
- All
- Highlights
End of 2nd Half
FT
Napoli 1-1 Barcelona An excellent result for Barcelona, who dominated possession yet scored with their only shot on target. Napoli defended immaculately for 99.9 per cent of the match and took the lead with a belter from Dries Mertens. But the 0.1 per cent, Antoine Griezmann's superb equaliser, is likely to prove decisive in this tie.
90+5'
... anod nothing comes of it.
90+5'
Mario Rui wins a later corner for Napoli...
90+3'
Pique walks gingerly from the field, to be replaced by Clement Lenglet.
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On
C. Lenglet
FC Barcelona
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Off
G. Piqué
FC Barcelona
Free Kicks3
90+1'
Pique lands awkwardly on his left ankle after jumping for a high ball. He looks in a lot of pain and won't be able to continue.
90'
Five minutes of added time. Barcelona will be without Busquets and Vidal in the second leg.
88'
VIDAL IS SENT OFF! He receives two yellow cards in the same incident. The first was for a late challenge on Mario Rui, the second for going head to head with Rui, who was also booked for his part in the whole shemozzle.
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Red card
A. Vidal
FC Barcelona
Yellow Cards2
Fouls2
Fouls against1
Red Cards1
87'
Barcelona sub: Ansu Fati replaces Griezmann.
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On
A. Fati
FC Barcelona
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Off
A. Griezmann
FC Barcelona
Goals1
On target1
Yellow Cards1
Fouls2
87'
Barcelona break down the other end, where Arthur drives over the bar from 25 yards.
86'
Napoli are starting to threaten again on the break. Politano's lofted pass is kneed behind for a coner by Busquets. Insigne's corner is helped on dangerously at the near post and cleared by a stretching defender at the far.
84'
A half chance for Napoli. Zielinski's clever header comes to Insigne on the left side of the box. He works the ball onto his right foot and tries to bend it into the far corner but gets too much on the shot and it goes a few yards wide.
83'
Griezmann is booked for a cynical foul.
Yellow card
A. Griezmann
FC Barcelona
Goals1
On target1
Yellow Cards1
Fouls2
83'
Messi cuts in from the right, wriggles past three players and looks set to give the football world another orgasm when the last man Maksimovic makes a vital tackle.
80'
Another Napoli change: Allan replaces Demme.
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On
Allan
Napoli
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Off
D. Demme
Napoli
Fouls1
Fouls against1
79'
Napoli have been pinned in their own half for the last 10 minutes or so. They miss the pace of Mertens on the break.
76'
Messi's inswinging corner is headed over from a couple of yards by Umtiti, who flattens Ospina in the process. He couldn't quite get over the ball to head it down into the net.
75'
Chance for Barcelona! Vidal picks up a loose ball on the edge of the area and finds Messi, whose shot on the turn is crucially blocked by Maksimovic.
73'
Napoli substitution: Matteo Politano replaces Jose Callejon.
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On
M. Politano
Napoli
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Off
J. Callejón
Napoli
On target1
Fouls2
71'
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Image credit: Eurosport
69'
That equaliser has taken the wind out of Napoli's sails. Barcelona look much more relaxed, knowing that 1-1 would be a very satisfactory score to take back to the Nou Camp.