Barcelona vs Napoli, Odds UEFA Champions League 23/24 – Round of 16

Introduction

Barcelona and Napoli battled to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of this tie at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. Despite it being Francesco Calzona’s first game in charge of Napoli, the Italians gave a good account of themselves, and Victor Osimhen eventually cancelled out Robert Lewandowski’s opener for Barcelona. That has set the stage for an intriguing second leg, with both teams needing to win to wrap up qualification in normal time. Barcelona will be hoping that playing in front of their home crowd carries them through, while Napoli hope that their resurrection under Calzona continues.

About the game

Barcelona looks set to come into this clash without a couple of key players. Frenkie De Jong and Pedri were taken off with injuries in the 0-0 stalemate at Athletic Bilbao in the last game. To further compound their fitness issues, Lamine Yamal – who has been one of the few positives for the Catalans this season – is now regarded as doubtful for this match. In what has been a bit of a disappointing season for Barcelona, Xavi has already announced his decision to step down as manager at the end of the season. That announcement came after a 5-3 loss at Villarreal ended any faint hopes of retaining the La Liga trophy. However, Xavi’s players have responded well to that news with four wins and three draws in the seven games they have played since then.

That upturn in form has not translated to better defensive stability for Barcelona, as they have still conceded six times in those seven games. In all, they have failed to keep the opponent at bay in 15 of their last twenty games in all competitions. A lot of this can be put down to the sheer number of defensive injuries they have had this season, with Xavi having had to try nothing less than five different centre-back partnerships already. Napoli will be rubbing their hands with glee over those defensive issues Barcelona have been facing recently.

The Italians themselves are not having a good season either. After last season’s famous Scudetto triumph, no manager has been able to step into Luciano Spalletti’s big shoes. They lay 7th on the log and two managers have already paid the price for that. They seem to have stopped some of the rot since Francesco Calzona took over on February 19, though. Napoli are yet to lose under him, drawing the first three games and then winning the subsequent two. This is an improvement on the run of 8 losses in fifteen games that led to the end of Walter Mazzari’s reign. Napoli’s attacking duo of Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia seem to have rediscovered their touch under Calzona. Osimhen has scored five times and assisted once since the new manager rocked up, while his partner in crime has scored three and assisted once in the last two games.

But just like Barcelona, Napoli have been conceding goals too. They have conceded one goal apiece in each of their five games under Calzona. They let in 9 goals in their 6 group stage games, so it has been an issue before the new man arrived. With both teams needing to win this game to win this tie in normal time, we expect to see an open game with both teams finding the net.

The Best Betting Odds for Barcelona vs Napoli

Conclusion

Napoli will feel that they can hurt this Barcelona team that will likely have key players missing in midfield. The Serie A defending champions have been playing with a lot more freedom since changing managers last month, but they have no reason to sit back and defend anyways. Barcelona will know that this competition is their only realistic chance of winning a trophy this season, and the departing Xavi will be keen to progress here. All of the dynamics point to an open game that will see quite a few goals.