Wayne Lumbasi
A contentious second half penalty was enough to give Barcelona a 1-1 draw at home to Napoli in front of an almost sell-out home crowd.
Napoli got the first goal of the tie in the 29th minute as Piotr Zielinski smashed an effort on the rebound into the roof of the net from inside the box after his initial shot was saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Barcelona were then awarded a penalty in the 59th minute following a VAR check after Juan Jesus handled the ball in the box. Ferran Torres made no mistake and buried the spot kick to Alex Meret’s right to put the game back on level terms.
Barcelona pushed for a winner late on, with Luuk de Jong going close with an acrobatic effort and Torres then missing another big chance as it finished level.
Xavi will be in two minds about what happened at Camp Nou. On one hand, he will be delighted at how his side played in the second half, but on the other, he will be bitterly disappointed to walk away with just a draw. The second-leg takes place in Italy next week, and Napoli will be confident of progressing even though the away goals rule is no longer in place.
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