Barça are now in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after an absence of four seasons. The Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on Tuesday was the scene for a magical night in Montjuïc with goals from Fermín, João Cancelo, Robert Lewandowski and another masterful display from teenager Pau Cubarsí at the back.
Lamine and Cubarsí shine
The season so far for the two teenage sensations has been nothing short of remarkable. 16 year old Lamine put in another excellent display on the wing and 17 year old Pau Cubarsí was named man of the match for his majestic performance at centre back. Both players have the full confidence of the fans, their team mates and the coach and that was on show on Tuesday at Montjuïc.
History repeats
The last time Barça and Napoli met in the Champions League was back in the 2019/20 season with the result the same: a 1-1 draw in the first leg and a 3-1 win for the blaugranes in the second. The blaugranes remain unbeaten against the Italians now in six meetings, their record reading three wins and three draws.
Quickest two goals advantage since…
Not since the season 2008/09 when Pep Guardola’s team claimed a third victory in the competition for the blaugranes have Barça gone 2-0 so early in a Champions League game. Goals from Fermín López and Cancelo gave Xavi’s side a 2-0 lead against Napoli after just 17 minutes, the quickest since Leo Messi and Thierry Henry combined to give the blaugranes a similar advantage against Bayern Munich after just 12 minutes of the 4-0 win in the first leg of their quarter-final tie.
Shortest gap between goals
There were just two minutes and one second between the goals from Fermín (14m16s) and Cancelo (16m17s), the briefest in a knockout tie of the competition for the blaugranes.
The only shorter gap came in the 2016/17 group stage against Celtic when Andrés Iniesta (58m26s) and Leo Messi (59m42s) scored within 1 minutes and 16 seconds of each other.
Confidence going into the last eight
Barça have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League on 21 occasions. The first time was way bacl in 1959/60 when they knocked out English club Wolverhampton Wanderers 9-2 on aggregate. Since then they have made it the semi-finals on no less than 14 occasions, the most recent in 2018/19 when Ernesto Valverde’s team sailed past Manchester United 4-1 on aggregate.
In 43 matches at this stage of the competition, Barça have won 22, drawn 12 and lost just nine with 79 goals for and 46 against.
