The first leg between Barcelona and Napoli ended in a draw, which leaves everything open for the second game. While 1-1 can be interpreted as a better result for Barcelona, it will still be tricky for them. Napoli seems to have picked itself up after the recent managerial change and return of key personnel.
Barcelona Team News
Excitement is sure to be high in the Barca camp, as their previous European seasons were underwhelming, to say the least. Right now they are 90 minutes away from reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in 3 years. Blaugrana has an excellent home record in the knockout phase of the tournament with 13 wins from 16 games. Recent form has also been good as Barcelona is also unbeaten in their last 4 competitive home fixtures. Additionally, Xavi’s men are also unbeaten in their last 8 competitive games as well and have managed to keep a clean sheet in their last 3.
Napoli Team News
While the outcome of this tie is up in the air, Napoli can be considered an outsider. Nevertheless, they are currently on their longest unbeaten streak this season across all competition spanning their last 6 games. But in European competitions, Napoli have lost 5 of their 6 trips to Spain in a historical retrospective. But what could give hope to the Italians is their performance in the group stage of the tournament. The team won 2 of their 3 away games in their group, managed to score in all of them and even kept a clean sheet. In their most recent game away from home against Sassuolo, Napoli even managed to come up from behind and win the game 1-6.
Head-to-Head-Games
The head-to-head statistics favour Barcelona as they have 2 wins in the last 5 times they met Napoli. The Italians don’t have a win over their Spanish rivals in an official game. However, they did manage to score in their two visits to the Camp Nou.
Barcelona – Napoli Betting Prediction
The 1-1 result in the previous game might warrant a more careful approach from both sides, but I expect Barcelona to be quite active here and to look for a goal early on. Napoli on the other hand have shown resilience in their recent away games and are not to be underestimated. Blaugrana’s defence is also a weak spot for them and they will miss key players in midfield like Frenkie de Jong and Gavi while Napoli will be able to field their optimal starting XI. Napoli also managed to score in all of their group-stage away games and in their 2 previous visits to Camp Nou. Barcelona also conceded in 2 of their group-stage home games. All of this leads me to believe that we will be seeing both teams score here.
Betting Tip: Both Teams To Score: Yes
Bookmaker: Sportsbet.io
Odds: 1.72
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