Champions League: Napoli fights back to draw with Barcelona in dull game
The HinduNapoli fought back to hold visitor Barcelona to a dour 1-1 draw in the first leg of its Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday thanks to a goal from Nigeria forward Victor Osimhen. “We were better in all aspects of the game, we had to control and we struggled, we weren’t effective up front, it was a summary of our season.” Barca was playing its first Champions League knockout match in three years while Napoli was led by new coach Francesco Calzona with its Serie A title defence in tatters as it languishes ninth in the domestic standings. Teenager Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest player to appear in the knockout phase of the Champions League at 16 years and 223 days, was also bidding to become the tournament’s youngest scorer but he sent an early effort wide and had a strike from distance saved by goalkeeper Alex Meret. That woke Napoli up and Nigerian Osimhen, playing his first game since the Africa Cup of Nations, equalised 15 minutes later with a fine swivelling strike from inside the box to leave the tie evenly poised ahead of the return leg in Spain on March 12.