Barcelona Edge Past Napoli To Make Champions League Quarterfinals Return

Barcelona survived a nervy second half to beat Napoli 3-1 on Tuesday and reach the Champions League quarter-finals 4-2 on aggregate. Xavi Hernandez's side came flying out of the blocks with goals from Fermin Lopez and Joao Cancelo but after Amir Rrahmani pulled one back, the Catalans started to sweat. Italian champions Napoli, who salvaged a 1-1 draw in the last-16 first leg, were finally beaten when Robert Lewandowski swept home from close range. It is the first time five-time winners Barcelona have reached the last eight of the competition since 2020, and they did so without injured midfield trio Pedri, Gavi and Frenkie de Jong.

"We're in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after four years, it's the moment to enjoy that," Barca coach Xavi told Movistar.

"We played a great game, the team gave everything, we dominated in many moments ... (I'm) very proud."

Xavi said he was leaving at the end of the season in January and his team have gone on a run of nine games without defeat after that decision.

Teenage stars Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi have been key to that form, and both excelled against Napoli on a night which offered some relief to Barcelona amid a bleak season.

Centre-back Cubarsi, 17, got the better of Napoli forward Victor Osimhen.

"He's incredible, he was the game's best player," Sergi Roberto told Movistar.

"He doesn't stop surprising us, in the last 16 and playing this way, he's a player who can be here for his whole life."

Barcelona became the first team in the competition's history to start two players 17 or under in a knock-out stage game.

Xavi demanded the fans turn their temporary Olympic Stadium home on the city's Montjuic hill into a pressure cooker, and they duly obliged. Over 50,000