12 March 2024 , 22:14
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Robert Lewandowski settled Barcelona's nerves to keep alive Xavi's hopes of bowing out as manager with a trophy.
Lewandowski netted Barcelona's crucial third goal seven minutes from time in the Olympic Stadium - after Napoli's Jesper Lindstrom missed a great chance to level the tie.
Barcelona started on fire and scored two goals inside two first-half minutes with former Leeds winger Raphinha instrumental. First, the Brazilian cut Napoli open down the left and pulled the ball back for Fermin Lopez to slot home in the 15th minute.
Then he curled a right-foot shot against the post and the ball fell to on-loan Manchester City star Joao Cancelo to score from the rebound. Barcelona were in control only for Napoli to turn the game on the half-hour mark through a well-worked goal when Amir Rrahmani netted beautifully into the far corner on the half-volley.
Suddenly all the old doubts resurfaced for Barcelona and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen did well to touch over a header from Napoli skipper Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
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Lindstrom planted a close-range header wide when he should have scored and Barcelona made him pay for that miss when substitute Sergi Roberto unselfishly squared the ball for Lewandowski to slot home.
With Barcelona currently eight points behind arch-rivals Real Madrid in La Liga, retaining their domestic crown seems a tall ask. However, by progressing to the latter stages of Europe's premier knockout competition, Xavi's side could still bring the curtain down on the Spaniard's reign in style with victory in the Champions League.
Barcelona have qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals (Lluis Gene/AFP)Reacting post-match, Roberto said:“An incredible night, it’s been four years away from being where this club should be. Very happy. Let's enjoy this moment. The fans have been with us and that is very important.
“The Camp Nou is very different but we need this atmosphere in every game. Thank you to the fans. We started well and in the end a good result and very happy. I think that in Naples we already had a great first half. We needed to finish with goals like today. It is normal that a team like Napoli can score against you.
"I could have scored but the play went perfectly. I saw that Robert [Lewandowski] was alone at the penalty spot and I’m happy to assist him.”
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