BREAKING: Barcelona Defeats Osimhen's Napoli to Advance to UCL Last 8
- SSC Napoli are out of the UEFA Champions League following their 3-1 defeat to Barcelona in Spain
- The game at the Estadi Olimpic de Montjuic saw spot-kick appeals from Napoli rejected by the match officials
- Particularly, Victor Osimhen was denied a penalty when Pau Cubarsi appeared to tread on his foot
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Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering sports and football.
Barcelona, Spain - Barcelona sailed into the UEFA Champions League (UCL) quarterfinals on Tuesday night, March 12.
The Catalan giants progressed after seeing off the challenge of Victor Osimhen's Napoli.
Source: Getty Images
The reigning Italian champions lost by three goals to one in Spain after a 1-1 draw in the first leg.
The 4-2 aggregate scoreline means Super Eagles of Nigeria's Osimhen and Napoli are out of the glamorous tournament.
Barca were 2-0 up inside 17 minutes of play, with Raphinha providing the assist for both strikes.
The first of these two goals came through Fermin Lopez as the Brazilian played a pass to him inside the penalty area, and he cooly placed the ball into the bottom corner.
Raphinha could have then turned goalscorer with a shot from inside the penalty area, which struck the outside of the right post. From the resultant throw-in, Raphinha got the last touch in a bit of scrappy move with the ball bobbling to Joao Cancelo, and the former Manchester City man converted his shot into the middle of the goal.
Napoli gave themselves a lifeline when Amir Rrahmani steered a smart finish into the far corner on 30 minutes.
However, Barca found a much-needed third goal when experienced striker Robert Lewandowski slotted home a clever pass from Sergi Roberto.
Read more about UCL:
- UCL: Davido teases Manchester United fans after 4-3 defeat to FC Copenhagen, people react
- UCL: Napoli’s reaction to Osimhen’s equaliser against Barca reminds Nigerians of AFCON, many fume
- UCL Round of 16: Osimhen secures equalising goal for Napoli in 1–1 draw against Barcelona
UEFA Champions League's new format
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the UEFA executive committee announced a change in the Champions League format starting from the 2024/25 season.
According to the new format, there will no longer be a group stage. Instead, there will be a league phase in which clubs are required to play eight matches.
Unlike the former format, where 32 teams were divided into eight groups, the league phase in the new format constituted 36 teams.
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Source: Legit.ng
