A smiling Barcelona after its last league win visit Napoli this Thursday in search of their place in the round of 16 of the Europa League at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium.
The Barça team goes to the Neapolitan fief in the second leg of the play-offs for access to the second round of the continental tournament after the 1-1 of the first leg in Barcelonawhich left the tie wide open.
The elimination of the double goals rule in the opposite field in the event of a tie, the pass to the round of 16 is decided practically from scratch at the Napoli field, to which Barça goes encouraged by the game shown in the 4-1 victory at the Valencia field over the weekend.
“It gives us confidence to win here. They have tightened. It gives us moral. A lot” to go to Naples, assured the Barça coach, Xavi Hernández.
Since his arrival at the Barça bench, the team has been progressing to get into Champions positions in LaLiga, one of his clear goals for next season.
Barça managed to dominate in many moments of the match to Naples, but was penalized for his lack of punch, which he hopes to remedy in Naples with the good progress of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, author of a hat-trick in Valencia.
The arrival of the Gabonese striker and that of Adama Traoré in January They have contributed spark to the azulgrana attack, encouraged by Pedri’s return from injury.
– Naples with casualties –
In Naples they will have to show their best version against a team that is firmly established in the Champions zone of the Italian championship, but that comes to the match after drawing 1-1 with Cagliari over the weekend, failing in its assault on the league leadership.
The Neapolitan team continues without being able to count on the injured Hirving Lozano, Matteo Politano and Stanislav Lobotka, to which is added the doubt of the Cameroonian Zambo Anguissa, substituted in the first leg against Barça.
The Royal Society receives Leipzig after surviving the first leg in Germany (2-2) and conceding a terrible 4-1 in LaLiga in the Basque derby against Athletic Bilbao.
“If there is something this team has, it is knowing how to face tough defeats and get up, don’t have any doubts, for Thursday, one of the key games of this season”, encouraged coach Imanol Alguacil, after the match.
But the real with the loss of Adnan Januzaj and the serious doubt of Alexander Isak due to injury, he will have to work hard against a German team that arrives in San Sebastián after beating Hertha Berlin 6-1.
– Sevilla and Betis ahead –
Betis and Sevilla face their commitments in better conditions after prevailing, respectively, 3-2 against Zenit Saint Petersburg and 3-1 against Dinamo Zagreb.
The sevillistas are the ones who face the return in Zagreb in a better position on the scoreboard before facing Betis in the Seville LaLiga derby at the weekend.
The pass to the round of 16 of the Europa League, their fetish competition, It could be a shock for Julen Lopetegui’s team, stuck in the domestic championship where they have only won one of their last five games.
Sevilla will recover for this match its Argentine Gonzalo Montiel, but he loses the Frenchman Anthony Martial, one of the scorers in the first leg, injured at the weekend against Espanyol.
Betis will seek the support of its publicor to maintain the advantage achieved in the first leg in Russia in a great moment for the Chilean Manuel Pellegrini’s team, which has accumulated four wins in its last five league games.
“We need to finish it off at home. We are not classified, far from it,” Pellegrini said at the weekend, trying to keep his team focused for the match.
— Knockout round second leg schedule play-off of the Europa League to access the round of 16:
– Lap:
Thursday 24 February
(13:45) Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) – Seville (ESP) (first leg 1-3)
Olympiacos (GRE) – Atalanta (ITA) (1-2)
Real Sociedad (ESP) – Leipzig (GER) (2-2)
Lazio (ITA) – Porto (POR) (1-2)
(16:00) Naples (ITA) – Barcelona (ESP) (1-1)
Betis (ESP) – Zenit Saint Petersburg (RUS) (3-2)
Rangers (SCO) – Borussia Dortmund (GER) (4-2)
Braga (POR) – Sheriff (MOL) (0-2)
