Five key stats from Napoli 1-1 Barcelona | Champions League Round of 16
Despite a much-improved performance, Barcelona only managed to play out a 1-1 draw against Napoli in their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first-leg tie away at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona last night.
Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for Barcelona as he continued on his recent goalscoring run. But a defensive error allowed Victor Osimhen to equalise for the Partenopei, who were subpar for most of the night but managed to hold out for a draw.
The result was a disappointing one considering that Napoli were there for the taking and extended Xavi’s poor track record in the Champions League.
Indeed, of the coaches who managed more than 10 Champions League matches with Barcelona, Xavi has the worst winning percentage (40%). He has only won 6 out of 15 matches.
The outcome also meant that Barça have not won an away Round of 16 match in the Champions League since 2016.
Despite the disappointment of the outcome, Robert Lewandowski’s continued goalscoring form was a positive for Barcelona.
In the process, Lewandowski (35 years, 184 days) became the oldest goalscorer for Barcelona in a Champions League knockout game, surpassing Lionel Messi’s previous record (33 years, 259 days against PSG in March 2021, also in the last 16).
The occasion was a special one for young Lamine Yamal as well, as he became the youngest ever player to appear in a knockout stage game in the UEFA Champions League (16y 223d).
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen also achieved a milestone as he went past Dani Alves (80) to become the non-Spanish player with the second-highest number of Champions League appearances for Barcelona (81). Only Lionel Messi has more (149).
