Lewandowski’s clinical finish secured a well-deserved spot in the Champions League quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory.
Barcelona’s stunning 3-1 home win over Napoli secured their spot in the Champions League quarter-finals with a 4-2 aggregate scoreline. The Spanish giants, led by the ruthless and clinical Robert Lewandowski, proved too much for the Italian side to handle.
The match started off with a bang as Barca’s Cancelo played a brilliant through ball to Raphinha, who cut inside the area and found Fermin with a perfect pass. The youngster made no mistake and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to give Barcelona an early lead in the 15th minute.
However, Barcelona were not content with just one goal. Napoli were still trying to come to terms with going behind when Barca struck again. A quick counter-attack saw Lamine Yamal play a fantastic cross-field pass to Raphinha, who did well to skip past defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo before curling in a shot that came off the post. Cancelo was there to pounce on the rebound and drive home his first-time effort, doubling Barcelona’s lead in the 19th minute.
Napoli managed to pull one back just before the half-hour mark when Matteo Politano beat Cancelo in the area and played a well-weighted ball to Rrahmani, who made a clever run from the back to side-foot the ball past Barca’s goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.
Barcelona was not going to let Napoli back into the game. Lewandowski, who was a constant threat upfront, combined with Gundogan in a swift one-two move before finding Roberto with a quick pass. The Spaniard then squared the ball to Lewandowski, who had the simple task of tapping it into an empty net, increasing Barcelona’s lead to 3-1 in the 83rd minute.
After the match, Napoli manager Francesco Calzona expressed his disappointment in not being able to secure a victory.
He said, “there is disappointment. We came here to try to win and we didn’t succeed.”
Meanwhile, Barca coach Xavi Hernandez praised his team’s exceptional performance, stating, “Very happy. Barcelona are in the top eight in Europe. It was a well-deserved qualification, a game dominated in attack and defence but also an excellent game by Napoli.”
With this impressive performance, Barcelona have sent a strong message to their Champions League rivals that they are a force to be reckoned with. And with the likes of Lewandowski leading the charge, they could be a serious contender for the coveted trophy this season.