Napoli vs Barcelona tips and predictions: No thrills in first-leg deadlock at Diego Armando Maradona
- Sergiu Baltuta
- 20 February 2024
Familiar foes Napoli and Barcelona will clash in the Champions League round of 16 at the Estadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday evening (2000 GMT).
The defending champions of Italy and Spain will face each other in the knockout stages of the Champions League for the third time in four years on Wednesday night.
Back in 2020 the Spaniards prevailed by way of a 1-1 draw and a 3-1 win. Two years later, Barcelona came out on top again, drawing 1-1 away and winning 4-2 at home.
Napoli have had little luck against Spanish opposition this season, losing both meetings with Real Madrid, but 10 points was enough to secure their spot in the next round.
Although Napoli’s games were mostly low-scoring affairs, their clashes with Real Madrid were quite a spectacle, as they lost 3-2 and 4-2.
Napoli's form in Serie A is poor, with only one win in their last five games. The lone victory was at home against Verona and last weekend they could only manage a 1-1 draw against Genoa.
The most notable trend is there have been under 2.5 goals in each of their last five Serie A matches.
On the other hand, Xavi’s team is languishing in third place in the league with 54 points and little to no hope of defending their La Liga title.
In the last four rounds, the Catalans have regained their form, accumulating 10 points in the process.
Barca beat Celta 2-1 at the weekend thanks to a double from Robert Lewandowski who spared their blushes with an injury-time penalty.
Neither side is in the most convincing of form and may not want to run the risk of losing the tie in the first leg, so a conservative game wouldn’t be a surprise.
Key stats
- Napoli have a poor record against Spanish teams, winning only 6 out of 24 matches
- Napoli have only one won one of their last eight European games played at home against Spanish teams
- Barcelona have won 48% of their games against Serie A sides, drawing 31% and losing just 11%.
- The Catalans have won 14 of their previous 34 away games in Europe
