In an enthralling match held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on Tuesday night, Barcelona progressed to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League following a commanding 3-1 victory over Italian champions Napoli.
Victor Osimhen featured for the entirety of the match but was unable to augment his tally of two goals in this season’s competition, as he encountered staunch resistance from the Barcelona defense, spearheaded by Uruguayan international Ronald Araujo.
Within a mere twenty seconds, the Nigerian forward managed to penetrate the Barcelona defense; however, his goal-scoring opportunity was thwarted by a well-timed tackle from teenage defender Cubarsí.
At the age of 20 years and 306 days, Fermín López became the youngest Barcelona player to find the net in the knockout stages of the Champions League since Ousmane Dembélé achieved the feat against Chelsea in March 2018, breaking the deadlock in the fifteenth minute.
João Cancelo swiftly doubled Barcelona’s advantage, yet Napoli injected intrigue into the tie as Amir Rrahmani narrowed the deficit with a goal at the half-hour mark.
In their quest for an equalizer, Napoli made numerous attempts to deliver crosses into the box, aiming to exploit Osimhen’s aerial prowess, but their efforts proved fruitless.
The Parthenopeans remained competitive until the 83rd minute when Robert Lewandowski extended Barcelona’s lead from close range.
Having been eliminated from both the Champions League and Coppa Italia, Napoli must now shift their focus to Serie A.