B.Arselona prepares to meet Naples in the second leg of the Europa League play-off on Thursday evening. The draw is well balanced after a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou last week and Javi Hernandez challenged his side to show that they could compete against what he called “Champions League opponents”. The Catalans were defeated Valencia 4-1 away at the weekend, while the Italians squandered their chance to top Serie A with a 1-1 draw. Cagliari. Stay tuned to follow the preparations for the match between Napoli and Barcelona, as well as follow the updates of the match itself.
Napoli – Barcelona – LIVE SCORE: 0:0
This is the start of our live blog Napoli vs Barcelona and the news of this Europa League match follows from here. As always, the entries closest to the beginning are the most recent.
18:55 GMT: Napoli confirm XI
Di Lorenzo and Insigne undergo fitness tests to start Napoli against Barcelona.
Napoli starting lineupCast: Meret, Di Lorenzo, Rahmani, Koulibaly, Mario Rui, Fabian, Demme, Elmas, Zelinski, Insigne, Osimhen.
18:45 GMT: Barcelona confirm XI
Xavi recalled Piqué to the starting XI and kept his faith in Dest at right-back after his good performance at the Mestalla over the weekend. Ferran Torres, Adama Traore and Aubameyang start the attack.
Barcelona starting lineup: Ter Stegen, Dest, Alba, Piqué, Araujo, Busquets, F. De Jong, Pedri, Ferrand, Aubameyang, Traore.
18:00 GMT: 10th minute tribute to Maradona
In honor of the late Diego Maradona, the entire stadium, named after the legendary Argentine, will applaud at the 10th minute of the game. Maradona became a cult hero for Napoli after helping them win two league titles in Italy and also representing Barcelona.
During the tribute, the Napoli fans will sing in the same way as when Maradona played at the then San Paolo stadium before bursting into applause.
Estimated composition of Napoli
The Italians are sweating over the fitness of Lorenzo Insigne, who was injured in training, but Giovanni Di Lorenzo is expected to return from injury against Cagliari.
Predicted XI Napoli: measures; Zanoli, Rahmani, Coulibaly, Jesus; Fabian, Demme; Elmas, Zelinski, Mertens; Osimhen
Estimated line-up for Barcelona
Dani Alves is not registered for the tournament, Memphis Depay is out of the tournament due to injury and Ansu Fati has been out of the tournament for a long time.
Predicted line-up for Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Minges, Piqué, Garcia, Alba; Pedri, Busquets, Of Yong; Ferran Torres, Aubameyang, Adama Traore.