Barcelona secured their place in the round of 16 of the Europa League with a 4-2 victory over Napoli on Thursday evening in the second leg of the knockout stage at the Italian team's home ground, the "Diego Armando Maradona" stadium. Goals for Barcelona were scored by Jordi Alba, Frenkie de Jong, Gerard Piqué, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the minutes (8, 13, 45+1, 59), while Napoli's goals came from Lorenzo Insigne with a penalty in the 23rd minute and Matteo Politano in the 87th minute. The first leg at "Camp Nou" had ended in a 1-1 draw.
The match began with pressure from Barcelona, and Jordi Alba managed to score the opening goal for the visitors in the 8th minute after a counter-attack initiated by Adama Traoré, striking a powerful left-footed shot past goalkeeper Meret. Frenkie de Jong then added the second goal for Barcelona in the 13th minute with a strong shot from outside the box that found the bottom left corner of Napoli's net.
Dest, Barcelona's right-back, had a powerful shot that went over Napoli's goal and missed an opportunity to score the third in the 17th minute. The referee awarded a penalty to Napoli after Nigeria's Victor Osimhen was fouled by Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen in the box. Lorenzo Insigne successfully converted the penalty in the 23rd minute.
Adama Traoré sent a cross into the box that reached Aubameyang, but the latter's header went just past the left post in the 25th minute. Ferran Torres then shot powerfully from the edge of the box, narrowly missing the left post in the 27th minute. Insigne struck from outside the box in the 33rd minute, sending the ball wide of the right post.
Gerard Piqué scored Barcelona's third goal in the 46th minute with a low shot, ending the first half with Barcelona leading 3-1. At the start of the second half, Adama Traoré sent a cross from the right that reached Frenkie de Jong, but his shot was blocked by Napoli’s defense and turned into a corner in the 54th minute.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the fourth goal for Barcelona in the 59th minute after a ground cross from his teammate Adama Traoré. Insigne found the net again for Napoli in the 69th minute, but the referee disallowed the goal for offside. Osimhen missed a chance to score in the 70th minute when he received a through ball from Insigne, only to shoot just past the right post.
Riqui Puig sent a cross into the box that reached Luuk de Jong, whose shot went wide of Napoli's goal in the 85th minute. Matteo Politano reduced the deficit for Napoli by scoring the second goal in the 87th minute, capitalizing on a defensive error by Barcelona and shooting past Ter Stegen to the far right.
Batagna nearly scored Napoli's third goal in the 89th minute, but his effort was stopped by a great save from Ter Stegen, ending the match with a significant victory for coach Xavi Hernandez’s side.
