• Napoli finished second in UEFA Europa League Group C behind Spartak Moskva in the autumn and qualified with a decisive home win against Leicester City on matchday six.
• After seventeen consecutive years of appearance in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League, FC Barcelona have not managed to leave their group. With just seven points, they finished third behind Bayern München and Benfica and advanced to the UEFA Europa League for the first time.
Previous meetings
• The first leg, in which FC Barcelona made their UEFA Europa League debut, ended without a winner as visiting midfielder Piotr Zieliński’s 29th-minute goal was canceled out just before the hour mark by a penalty from Barça’s new signing, Ferran Torres.
• FC Barcelona and Napoli, former Diego Maradona clubs, have only faced each other in UEFA competition once, in the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League Round of 16. That encounter was interrupted for several months by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the first leg at Napoli in February ending 1-1 and the return leg at Camp Nou in August ending in victory 3-1 FC Barcelona.
• Napoli’s 21 UEFA matches against Spanish sides have resulted in six wins, seven draws and eight defeats. At home, the record is 3 wins, 6 draws and 8 defeats. The only loss came five years ago, when Real Madrid won 3-1 in the Champions League Round of 16 second leg, going 6-2 on aggregate. Napoli won the last such encounter, 2-1 against European debutants Granada in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second leg last season, but lost 3-2 on aggregate.
• Napoli record in home and away matches against Spanish teams, 1 qualification and 7 eliminations, including 6 in the last 6 confrontations.
• Barça have faced Italian clubs 61 times and won 30 times (12 losses). His record in 28 away games is 8 wins, 12 draws and 8 losses, with wins in two of his last three visits – Champions League successes at Inter in 2019/20 (2-1 ), in which Ansu Fati became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the competition, and at Juventus in 2020/21 (2-0).
• The Catalans’ record in home and away matches against Italian sides is 9 qualifiers and 5 eliminations, with the 2019/20 success against Napoli being the most recent.
• Barcelona have faced Italian opponents in five UEFA finals, winning three and losing two. The most recent was a 3-1 win over Juventus in the 2014/15 Champions League final in Berlin.
About clubs
Naples
• Under Gennaro Gattuso, Napoli finished fifth in Serie A last season, belatedly dropping fourth place to miss out on the Champions League group stage for the fifth time in six seasons. The Italians therefore returned, under new coach Luciano Spalletti, to the UEFA Europa League, where they won their group last season before being knocked out in 16is final by FC Granada, another Spanish club.
• The 1988/89 UEFA Cup winners have never failed to qualify from their UEFA Europa League group (in six appearances). This season they finished second after losing home (2-3) and away (1-2) to Spartak, after both teams finished tied on ten points. Naples doubled against Legia Warszawa (3-0, 4-1) and won against Leicester (2-2, 3-2).
• With a ninth appearance in the UEFA Europa League knockout stage, Napoli equal the record of Ajax and Olympiacos. The Italians have been knocked out at the round of 16 stage five times before, reaching the round of 16 in 2013/14, the quarter-finals in 2018/19 and the semi-finals, under Spain coach Rafael Benítez, in 2014/15.
• The Partenopei’s record at home in the UEFA Europa League knockout stage is 6 wins, 5 draws and 3 losses. They have only won three of their last ten European home matches in the spring (4 draws and 3 losses).
• Napoli have won the last eight UEFA meetings where they have drawn away first legs, the most recent being against Swansea City in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League Round of 16 (0-0, 3-1). Four of those eight successes came after 1-1 first leg draws, the most recent against Boavista (2-1 second leg) in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup second round.
Barcelona
• FC Barcelona finished third in the 2020/21 Spanish La Liga behind Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid. It was the first time he failed to finish in the top two since 2007/08, when he also finished third. They did, however, secure a record 31st Copa del Rey victory, beating Athletic Club 4-0 in the final.
• Last season Barcelona also failed to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2006/07, losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 (1-4, 1 -1). This season, Barca have scored just two goals – both in 1-0 wins over Dynamo Kyiv – and finished third in Group E behind Bayern (0-3, 0-3) and Benfica (0- 3, 0-0). Coach Ronald Koeman was fired in October and replaced the following month by former Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernández.
• Barça have won just one of their last 11 spring European fixtures away from Catalonia (6 defeats) – all in the Champions League. It was against Manchester United in the 2018/19 quarter-final first leg (1-0). Their first European away game after Christmas in each of the past four seasons has ended in a draw, including that visit to Napoli two years ago.
– The Azulgrana have been held to failure at home in the first leg of a UEFA meeting 11 times, confirming their qualification five times. In the event of a 1-1 draw in the first leg at home, Barça have an aggregate record of 3 qualifications and 3 eliminations, the latest case being the elimination by the Spaniards of Atlético de Madrid in the quarter-finals of the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League (0-1).
Squad changes in the UEFA Europa League
Barcelona
Arrivals: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) Ferran Torres (Manchester City), Adama Traoré (Wolves, loan)
Departures: Sergio Agüero (retired), Philippe Coutinho (Aston Villa, loan), Yusuf Demir (Rapid Vienna, end of loan), Iñaki Peña (Galatasaray, loan)
Naples
Arrival: Faouzi Ghoulam
Departure : Kostas Manolas (Olympiacos)
We know each other…
• Napoli midfielder Fabián Ruiz is a Spanish international who played in his home country for Real Betis (2014-18) and Elche (loan 2016/17).
• André-Frank Zambo Anguissa was loaned out to Villarreal in 2019/20 and lost both of his games against Barcelona (2-1, 4-1), while Napoli team-mate Stanislav Lobotka spent three seasons at Celta Vigo before joining the Italian club in 2020.
• Barcelona goalkeeper Neto knows Italian football well having played for Fiorentina (2011-15) and Juventus (2015-17). He kept goal for the Florence club in the 2014 Coppa Italia final loss to Napoli, which the Partenopei won 3-1 thanks to two goals from Lorenzo Insigne and one from Dries Mertens.
• Mertens and FC Barcelona striker Memphis Depay were teammates at PSV Eindhoven from 2011-13. From 2017-19 PSV also signed Luuk de Jong (Barca) and Hirving Lozano (Naples), who together won Eredivisie champion title in 2017/18.
• Mertens has made 59 UEFA Europa League appearances, from group stage to final, just two less than record holder Daniel Carriço.
• Napoli’s Eljif Elmas scored the winning goal past Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen in North Macedonia’s 2-1 win over Germany in the European Cup qualifier FIFA World Cup 2022, on March 31, 2021 in Duisburg.
• Barca new signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who played in Italy as a youth for AC Milan, scored his first European goal against Napoli in a 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund at the matchday six of the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League. He also started for Arsenal in both matches to defeat Napoli in the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals (2-0 home, 1-0 away).
• Ferran Torres, another January rookie at the Camp Nou side, scored Spain’s two goals in a 2-1 win over host country in the UEFA Nations League 2021 semi-final Insigne and his Neapolitan teammate Giovanni Di Lorenzo were on the Azzurri team.
• Catalans striker Kuuk de Jong’s last UEFA Europa League appearance was in the 2020 final, when he was named Man of the Match after scoring a brace for Sevilla in a 3-2 win over Inter .
On penalties
– Napoli, 1 qualification, 2 eliminations:
3-4 v Toulouse, 1986/87 UEFA Cup first round
4-3 v Sporting CP, 1989/90 UEFA Cup first round
3-5 v Spartak Moskva, 1990/91 European Champion Clubs’ Cup second round
– Barcelona, 5 qualifications, 1 elimination
5-4 v AZ Alkmaar, 1977/78 UEFA Cup second round
3-1 v Ipswich Town, 1977/78 UEFA Cup third round
4-1 v Anderlecht, 1978/79 European Cup Winners’ Cup second round
5-4 v IFK Gothenburg, 1985/86 European Champion Clubs’ Cup semi-final
0-2 v Steaua Bucureşti, 1985/86 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final
5-4 v Lech Poznań, 1988/89 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup second round