Napoli vs. Barcelona, ​​for the Champions League: schedule, training and how to see it live

02/25/2020 - 11:07

• Clarín.com
• sports
• Football

Barcelona will visit Napoli on Tuesday, starting at 5pm and with television for all of ESPN2's Argentina , in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, looking to set foot in the next round and, of yapa, erasing doubts about their chances in the maximum competition of European clubs.

"If we want to be champions, we have to grow a lot. I think that today it is not enough for us to fight the Champions League," Lionel Messi acknowledged, a few days ago, in an interview with Mundo Deportivo newspaper.

Just the presence of Messi is the great magnet that this encounter has, since in addition to his talent, it will be the first time that the Flea plays in San Paolo, the stadium in which Diego Armando Maradona shined while defending the Napoli shirt.

Lionel Messi, during the field recognition at the San Paolo Stadium (AFP)

Then, of course, he will be at 10 and in his companions clear the doubts he dragged in recent times. Is that beyond the blunt 5 to 0 that he got last weekend, for the Spanish League, against Eibar and with four goals from Messi, the level of Barcelona is far from what he showed at the end of 2019, when he finished first in Your Champions group.

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The change of technician (Quique Setién replaced the dismissed Ernesto Valverde), the injuries of Luis Suárez and Ousmane Dembélé, the failure in the Spanish Supercup or the continuous extra-sports problems, have complicated Barsa in his goal of winning a Cup that does not get since 2015.

"It is something that I have already wanted for many years (to win the Champions League), since we won the last one," Messi said, recognizing that the tough eliminations in Rome (2018) and Liverpool (2019) still weigh.

Barcelona, ​​it is said, will visit Napoli with the casualties of Dembélé, Luis Suárez and Jordi Alba, to which Sergi Roberto joins, who suffered a muscle injury last Saturday.

Opposite will be the Napoli led by Gennaro Gattuso, winner of two Champions as a player, and now trying to repeat the feat as coach.

It will be the first time that Napoli faces Barsa in continental competition wanting to mark this premiere with a victory, for which he will probably rely on Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne ahead.

Napoli vs. Barcelona, ​​probable formations:

Napoli: Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Maksimovic, Manolas, Mario Rui; Fabián Ruiz, Demme (or Allan), Zielinski; Alley, Mertens, Insigne. DT: Gennaro Gattuso.

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Umtiti, Junior Firpo; Busquets, De Jong, Rakitic; Griezmann, Messi, Vidal (or Fati). DT: Quique Setién.