Barcelona-Napoli match set to take place in Lisbon
Barcelona’s Champions League will be played in a neutral venue.
If and when the Champions League returns, Barcelona’s next match against Napoli will not be taking place at the Camp Nou.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the return leg will not be played in Catalonia but rather in Lisbon, Portugal.
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The plan is for the remaining fixtures in the Round of 16 to be played in Lisbon with the Portuguese capital beating out Frankfurt and Moscow as possible locations. Thus the Bayern-Chelsea, Manchester City-Real Madrid and Juventus-Lyon matches will all take place there.
Nothing is official as of yet but UEFA will be holding a meeting on June 17 to decide where the final will be held as well as the format for the remainder of the competition.
Regardless of where Barça’s match was at the Camp Nou or a neutral venue, it was going to take place without any fans. This latest proposal is a way to try to finish out the round as safely as possible.
Barcelona drew the first leg 1-1 at the San Paolo.
If there is a disadvantage for Quique Setien’s men is that they did play the first leg with fans at the stadium which undoubtedly had a positive effect on a Napoli side who, on paper, went into the game as underdogs.
Even without fans, the familiarity of the Camp Nou was something that played in the Catalans’ favor. At a neutral stadium, they lose that edge which may have more of impact on who gets through than previously thought.
But all this depends on how these two teams come into the match, if a match even takes place, after getting some games under their belt. La Liga is set to resume this weekend whereas Serie A is set to return June 20.
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Barcelona have not been bounced in the opening knockout phase for quite some time. Despite the away goal, they cannot underestimate this Napoli side. Especially with Barça needing to do well in this competition given their exits the last two seasons.