The Naples match was the ‘Maradona Derby’. Argentinian legend Diego Maradona’s two former clubs, Barcelona and Napoli, met at the stadium named after him. However, neither club won. Barcelona had a chance to win through Lewandowski’s goal, but Napoli returned to a 1-1 draw thanks to Victor Oshimen’s goal.
The Arsenal-Porto match was also on the way to end in a draw. No one could score a goal throughout the ninety minutes. But a minute before the referee’s final whistle, Porto beat Arsenal 1-0 with a goal from Venderson Galeno.
Barcelona had a good start in the first leg of the last 16 in the UEFA Champions League. In the fourth minute, Lamine Yamal took the first shot on goal after receiving a ball from Ilkay Gundwan. Couldn’t keep it on target though. 16 years and 223 days old Yamal set a record on the field today. The Barca teenager is now the youngest player to play in the knockout stages in Champions League history. Yamal created a chance to score in the ninth minute. That didn’t work either. In total, Barcelona took six shots against Napoli in the first 25 minutes. No goal came from any of these attempts.
Barcelona was also very bright in defense in the first half. Napoli could not take a single shot in the entire 45 minutes. This is the first time since the Gladbach match in 2016 that the Catalan club have managed to keep the opposition shot-free in the first half of the match in the Champions League.
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Barcelona took the lead in the 60th minute. Lewandowski netted a low shot from Pedri. With this goal, 35 years and 184 days old Leva broke a record of Lionel Messi. Lever is now the oldest player to score in a Champions League knockout for Barcelona (Messi was 33 years 259 days).
Despite going ahead with goals, Barcelona were slowly falling apart. In contrast, Napoli were finding rhythm. And as a result, Oshimen scored a goal in the 75th minute to prevent the visitors from winning.
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The Nigerian misdirected Andre ter Stegan and easily slotted the ball into the net. At the end, Gundwan created a chance to score, but Barcelona could not score another goal.
Meanwhile, the Arsenal-Porto match in Portugal was largely without excitement except for the last part.
Towards the end of the game after a scoreless ninety minutes, Brazilian winger Galeno gave Porto a goal with an almost solo effort from outside the box. Barcelona-Napoli and Arsenal-Porto will play the Champions League second leg of the last 16 on March 12.
