FC Barcelona

Barcelona cruise past Napoli to book Round of 16 spot with fine performance

Barcelona's Gabonese midfielder Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (L) celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's fourth goal during the UEFA Europa League knockout round play-off second leg football match between SSC Napoli and FC Barcelona at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples on February 24, 2022. (Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP) (Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images)

Barcelona cruised through to the Europa League Round of 16 with a hugely impressive away performance against Napoli.

The Blaugrana went to Naples knowing they needed to win to progress having drawn the first leg at Camp Nou.

And they didn’t take long to stamp their authority at the Stadi Diego Armando Maradona.

Goals from Jordi Alba and Frenkie de Jong, put Barca in a commanding position within 13 minutes.

The first goal was a breakaway from a corner, with Adama Traore feeding Jordi Alba for a composed finish.

De Jong then scored with a beautiful curling effort, his first European goal for Barca.

Though, it wasn’t all plain sailing, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen conceding a silly penalty. Lorenzo Insigne converted.

Gerard Pique then restored the lead to two with a brilliantly taken volley from inside the box and a superb finish from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang followed after more neat work from Adama Traore.

Napoli would pull another goal back through Matteo Politano with three minutes remaining, but it was too little, too late and Barcelona cruised through with a 5-3 aggregate win and a 4-2 win on the night.

Tags Adama Traore Europa League FC Barcelona Frenkie de Jong Gerard Pique Napoli Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Xavi Hernandez
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