Barcelona will welcome Napoli to Camp Nou on Saturday night for the second leg of their last-16 clash in the Champions League.
The tie is delicately poised following a 1-1 draw in the first leg back in February, and the winner will advance to Lisbon for a knockout tournament to determine the winner of this season's European Cup.
Match preview
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Barca should be fired-up for Saturday's contest as they look to move on from the disappointment of the 2019-20 La Liga campaign, where they relinquished control of the La Liga title to bitter rivals Real Madrid.
The Catalan giants have had their problems this season but must still be taken extremely seriously in this competition, which resumes on Friday night following the coronavirus outbreak.
The Spanish outfit picked up a positive result in the first leg in Italy, with Antoine Griezmann levelling the scores in the second period after Dries Mertens had sent Napoli into a first-half lead.
Barca are actually unbeaten in their last 35 Champions League matches on home soil, while they have not lost in any of their last 15 home fixtures against Italian opposition, picking up 12 victories in the process.
Five-time European champions, the team's last success in this competition came back in 2015, and they were incredibly eliminated by Liverpool in the semi-finals of last season's tournament despite running out 3-0 winners in the first leg of their last-four tie with the Merseyside giants.
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Napoli also disappointed in their domestic league during the 2019-20 campaign, only finishing seventh in Serie A, some 16 points behind fourth-placed Lazio.
Gennaro Gattuso's side did beat Lazio 3-1 in their last league game of the season on August 1, though, and they could be sharper than Barca for this match, having only just finished their domestic campaign.
Napoli have actually never been past this stage of the Champions League, losing to Chelsea and Real Madrid in their last two last-16 ties. What's more, the Italian side have only won seven of their last 21 matches in this competition and have lost their last four two-legged ties against Spanish opposition.
Defeats on their last three visits to Spain, coupled with an overall away record of two wins and five defeats to La Liga opposition, means that the Italian outfit are the underdogs heading into Saturday's contest.
They are yet to lose in this season's Champions League, though, and impressively overcame the reigning champions Liverpool at home in the group stages of the competition before claiming a point at Anfield.
Barcelona Champions League form: WWDWWD
Barcelona form (all competitions): DWWWLW
Napoli Champions League form: DWDDWD
Napoli form (all competitions): DWLWLW
Team News
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Barca will be without the services of central defender Samuel Umtiti due to a knee injury, while midfielders Sergio Busquets and Arturo Vidal are both suspended for the home side.
Ousmane Dembele trained with the first team on Wednesday as he continues his recovery from a long-term hamstring problem, although it seems unlikely that the Frenchman will be involved against Napoli, having spent an extended period on the sidelines with his latest issue.
Griezmann, Clement Lenglet and Frenkie de Jong have all recovered from their recent injuries and should make the starting side, while Ivan Rakitic could get the nod in the middle of the park.
Luis Suarez missed the first leg in Naples through injury, but the Uruguay international is available for the return fixture and should join Griezmann and Lionel Messi in attack.
As for Napoli, Kostas Manolas is definitely absent due to a rib injury, but the Italians are hopeful that Lorenzo Insigne will be able to shake off a thigh problem in time for the contest.
Insigne picked up the issue against Lazio last weekend, and he trained individually on Wednesday as he fights to prove his fitness for the clash at Camp Nou.
Nikola Maksimovic is also struggling with a knee injury, but in-demand centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, who missed the first leg through injury, is fit to face the Spanish giants.
Fabian Ruiz is another player to be linked with a move away from Naples this summer, and the Spain international should be joined by Piotr Zielinski and Diego Demme as part of a midfield three.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Roberto, Rakitic, De Jong; Messi, Suarez, Griezmann
Napoli possible starting lineup:
Ospina; Hysaj, Di Lorenzo, Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Ruiz, Demme, Zielinski; Callejon, Mertens, Insigne
We say: Barcelona 2-1 Napoli
Barca have had their problems this season, and we are expecting a very close game on Saturday night as Napoli certainly have the tools required to advance. It is difficult to look past Quique Setien's side at Camp Nou, though, and we fancy them to book their spot in the quarter-finals courtesy of a narrow win.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home Win:data
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Barcelona win with a probability of 65.68%. A draw had a probability of 18.4% and a win for Napoli had a probability of 15.95%.
The most likely scoreline for a Barcelona win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.65%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.92%) and 3-1 (7.58%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.2%), while for a Napoli win it was 1-2 (4.43%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 7.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Barcelona would win this match.
