Can either team salvage their season?
Barcelona and Napoli lock horns at the Camp Nou on Saturday evening in the return leg of the Champions League. The first encounter ended in a 1-1 stalemate which Napoli was a hairs length from winning but that obviously did not happen meaning Barcelona currently have the upper hand.
Barcelona
The Blaugrana are at serious risk of ending the 2019/2020 season without a single title which is nothing short of a catastrophe for a team of Barcelona's stature. What's worse is that the lack of trophies has irritated Messi who has publicly criticised the club for their "lack of support" putting his future in doubt which is worrisome at the least for the Catalonian giants.
Tough times
Things are not looking too bright for Barcelona at the moment with under-fire coach Quique Setién surely facing the axe after the season along with the fact that midfield motors Vidal and Busquets are both suspended for Saturday's clash drastically reducing their chances of playing in the quarter-finals.
Barcelona managed to win just 5 of their last 9 La Liga fixtures due to many of their star players poor form and was a direct consequence as to why they relinquish their lead to Real Madrid. So the question on everybody's lips is, have Barca managed to shake off their poor form or will the problem be exacerbated due to missing key players?
Dangerous but frail
Barcelona have been rather easy pickings lately having kept only 1 clean sheet in their last 6 but have, as always, produced at the other end with Messi being, per usual, the main culprit. The bottom line is that you can never write Barcelona off with Messi on the field.
Napoli
I Partenopei's form drastically improved upon the arrival of the energetic Gennaro Gattuso but it was only enough to land them a very disappointing 7th place. However, due to their win over Juventus in the Coppa Italia, Napoli have still managed to qualify for next years Europa League which is no minor feat given the precarious situation they were in at the beginning of the year.
Time to make history?
Napoli are looking to make history having never made it past the last 16 of the Champions League and will feel like nows the time given how well they performed during the first leg and the fact that Barcelona are currently far from their best.
Goalscoring machine
Gattuso's men, despite their patchy form towards the end of the season, have been efficient going forward scoring 15 goals in their last 9 games. That is at least one goal in all of their last 9 games but one which is an impressive, yet necessary stat to have when going up against the likes of Barcelona in a deciding Champions League game.
If Napoli perform as they did during the first half of the tie they might very well make history and qualify for the quarter-finals.
Betting tip
Both teams are lethal going forward while having leaky tendencies which is why i will be backing Both teams to score at 1.66 with Betway.
