The first leg of the Round of 16 of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League between Napoli (Italy) and Barcelona (Spain) will take place on February 21st at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. The kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 PM GMT. Napoli vs Barcelona: odds comparison, predictions, statistics.
Napoli pre-match analysis
Napoli easily took the second position in their group. However, 8 points behind Real Madrid. They were saved by the fact that they played against Braga and Union Berlin that failed to perform well. Napoli never managed to beat Real Madrid, losing both matches.
The Italian side has been performing poorly in the domestic league. They’re ninth. They’ve won only 2 of the last 8 games in the league. These were the games against Salernitana and Hellas Verona, ending the other three games in a draw and losing three of the remaining ones.
Barcelona pre-match analysis
The Spanish side topped their group, tied on points with Porto. Barcelona won both games against the Portuguese team (1:0 and 2:1). Nevertheless, it’s worth mentioning that Barcelona lost their second game against Shakhtar Donetsk (0:1) and they failed to perform well in the last match against Antwerp, losing by 2 to 3. The last game wasn’t a decisive one, though.
Barcelona are seven points behind Real Madrid, the current leaders of the Spanish league. In the last 5 games of the domestic championship, Barcelona have won thrice, ending the game against Granada in a draw (3:3) and losing the match versus Villarreal (3:5). They can hardly hope to fight for the title.
Head-to-head
The last head-to-head games were in the UEFA Europa League in 2022. Barcelona won (4:2) the second leg after the first match ended in a draw (1:1). They also played in the Champions League in 2020. The first game ended in a draw (1:1) in February. The second match was played after half a year due to COVID-19 pandemic, with Barcelona winning (3:1).
Napoli vs Barcelona prediction
I believe that Barcelona will manage to deal with their crisis and beat Napoli in the first game. The Italian side hasn’t been OK either. Currently, it’s not the team it used to be. They are unlikely to advance to the next round as their playing style is pretty unclear now.
I don’t think that Barcelona will have a significant lead, but still the away side should win. Despite their obvious crisis, they still look better than Napoli.
My prediction is Barcelona to win at 2,60.
