Wasteful Barcelona to Blame Themselves As Napoli Force Catalan Giants to 1–1 Draw at Camp Nou

Wasteful Barcelona to Blame Themselves As Napoli Force Catalan Giants to 1–1 Draw at Camp Nou

Babajide Orevba
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:56 PM
  • Barcelona vs Napoli had all the pre-match razzmatazz as it was explosive from the very first blast of the whistle
  • While the Catalan giants missed a couple of chances in the early exchanges, Piotr Zielinski scored in the 29th minute for the visitors
  • The Catalan giants restored parity in the 59th minute after Ferran Torres slotted home from the penalty spot

Italian side Napoli held Barcelona to a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 fixture.

Both teams battled to win it on the night, but there was nothing separating the sides as it ended one goal apiece.

Piotr Zielinski opened the scoring for the Serie A outfit in the 29th minute as he slotted home from inside the area, but a second-half penalty was slotted home by Ferran Torres as it ended 1-1.

Barcelona vs Napoli
Barcelona vs Napoli ends in a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou. Photo: David S. Bustamante
Source: Getty Images

How it all happened

Camp Nou came to life as early as the 15th minute as Barcelona came close through Nico who drove past a defender before stinging the gloves of Meret.

Moments later, it was the visitors who almost found the back of the net after Victor Osimhen's effort was denied by the legs of Ter Stegen.

The opening goal of the encounter came in the 29th minute when Elmas cut inside Jordi Alba before laying it off for Zielinski who smashed the ball towards goal. Ter Stegen made a save but the rebound fell to the Pole who lashed the ball in.

After a disappointing first-half, the hosts came blazing in the second half and Juan Jesus was deemed to have handled inside the box in the 58th minute after a VAR check.

Ferran Torres stepped up to take it and then sent the goalkeeper the wrong way as it ended 1-1.

Torres had a couple of chances to win the tie for the home side, but he fluff them as they set up a mouthwatering second leg following the draw.

Chubuike Adamu scores as Salzburg hold Bayern Munich in UCL

Sports Brief earlier reported that Austrian-born Nigerian forward Chukwubuike Adamu scored for RB Salzburg in their 1-1 drawn game against Bayern Munich in the last-16 of the Champions League on Wednesday evening.

The 20-year-old was on target for the Austrian champions in the 21st minute at the Red Bull Arena, before Kingsley Coman rescued a draw late on for the German Bundesliga champions in a 1-1 encounter.

Adamu started the game from the bench and he was introduced in the 12th minute to replace his compatriot Noah Okafor who sustained an injury.

Authors
Babajide Orevba photo
Babajide Orevba
Babajide Orevba is a CAF accredited Nigerian journalist and HOD of the Local Desk with over 10 years of experience in media landscape.He studied NCE Political Science/Social Studies, AOCOED.
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