Naples (AP) - FC Barcelona have fought for a draw at SSC Napoli in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. Thanks to the away goal at 1-1 (0-1), the Catalans are in a good starting position in the return leg in Barcelona three weeks later.
The French world champion Antoine Griezmann scored the goal for the team of the German national soccer head Marc-André ter Stegen in the Stadio San Paolo (57th minute).
Previously, the Belgian Dries Mertens led the southern Italians around the former Leipzig Diego Demme (30th). The team of ex-world champion Gennaro Gattuso defended extremely compactly for a long time and at first the offensive of the Spanish champion around the Argentinean Messi hardly came to fruition. After Griezmann's goal, the Catalans became stronger offensively.
Naples, like Barcelona, would still have had a chance of winning after the equalization. Ter Stegen saved his team the draw against the arch-rival Real Madrid five days before the Clásico in the league with some strong saves. The former Munich and Leverkusen Arturo Vidal saw yellow-red shortly before the end (89th).
The German referee Felix Brych set a top class record in the game. The 44-year-old lawyer from Munich whistled his 57th Champions League game at Stadio San Paolo.
Overview Champions League round of 16
Information about the game