Barcelona on Thursday night comfortably cruised past Napoli 5-3 on aggregate to book a place in Europa League last 16.
Barcelona were on top almost from the start thanks to Jordi Alba perfect finishing with a lightning counter-attack from a Napoli corner, and Frenkie de Jong’s superb long-range effort effectively ended the tie with three-quarters of the match to play.
A thrilling Barcelona side could have had more before Lorenzo Insigne briefly gave the hosts hope from the penalty spot mid-way through the first half, and Gerard Pique made sure there would be no Napoli comeback on the stroke of half-time.
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The night began with plenty of enthusiasm at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona as the two teams lined up with a banner that read “Stop War” in protest at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which garnered loud applause.
However, Napoli immediately handed the initiative to Barca, a dreadful short corner cleared to Adana Traore who raced up the field and fed Alba, who calmly slotted home the opener.
Sergio Dest and Aubameyang then had shots whistle by Alex Meret’s goal as the home fans began to voice their displeasure at their team’s timid efforts.
Napoli were given a lifeline by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who came charging out to beat Victor Osimhen to the ball but took out the Nigerian and after a VAR check ended up giving away a penalty.
Insigne slotted home the 23rd-minute spot-kick but Barcelona continued their dominance and the home fans let out a sigh of relief when Aubameyang somehow headed wide from point-blank range.
Barcelona’s dominance was such that when Aubameyang ended a long spell of possession, and away fan ‘oles’, with a classy finish the Napoli supporters applauded.
“We dominated for 90 minutes and that’s the first time we’ve done that since I became coach,” Xavi told reporters.
“It’s a win over a team which I repeat is a Champions League-level team, one which does not concede many goals and is fighting for the league title.”
Matteo Politano pulled one back in the dying minutes but it was a stroll for Barca into Friday’s draw for the last 16, whose matches will be played on March 10 and 17.
“We made life difficult for ourselves with that awful start. You need to press Barcelona together as a team otherwise you will be in trouble as they will just pass it around you,” Politano told Sky Sport Italia.