FC Barcelona to face Napoli in the last 16 of the Champions League
FC Barcelona will face Napoli in the last 16 of the Champions League with the first leg taking place on Wednesday 21 February at 9pm CET in the Diego Armando Maradona stadium and the second at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on Tuesday 12 March.
Xavi Hernández's team topped group H in the initial phase of the competition ahead of Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Royal Antwerp and return to the knock out stages of the Champions League after an absence of two seasons. The challenge is now to make the final on 1 June 2024. To do so, Barça will have to start by overcoming the current Serie A champions over two legs.
Deco reacts to draw
FC Barcelona sporting director Anderson Luis de Souza 'Deco' was present at the Champions League draw in Nyon, Switzerland and following the name of Italian side Napoli being pulled out of the hat to face Barça, he gave his initial reaction to the tie.
"There is still time to go but they are league champions, like we are, and I believe we will see two tough games," he assured. "There is no luck in the Champions League. We are talking about Napoli, league champions, and they have quality players. In football talking about luck does not make sense," concluded Deco.
Full draw:
FC Porto v Arsenal
Napoli v FC Barcelona
PSG v Real Sociedad
Inter Milan v Atlético Madrid
PSV v Borussia Dortmund
Lazio v Bayern Munich
Copenhagen v Manchester City
Leipzig v Real Madrid
More information to follow.