Valverde wary of 'dangerous' Napoli but Barca anticipating 'beautiful' Champions League tie

Joe Wright

Valverde wary of 'dangerous' Napoli but Barca anticipating 'beautiful' Champions League tie image

Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde insists Napoli will be dangerous opponents in the Champions League last 16.

The Catalans were pitted against the Serie A side in Monday's knockout-stage draw in Nyon, with the first leg to take place at the San Paolo on February 25.

Napoli have endured a tough season domestically, their 2-1 loss at home to Parma on Saturday leaving them in eighth place, 18 points off leaders Inter and Juventus.

Despite some poor league results, which led to Carlo Ancelotti's departure as head coach and the appointment of Gennaro Gattuso, Napoli finished Champions League Group E unbeaten and are the only team to have beaten holders Liverpool in any competition this season.

Valverde believes Barca will need to be at their sharpest if they are to progress to the quarter-finals, even though his side triumphed 4-0 in their most recent meeting in pre-season.

"Napoli are a dangerous team," he told Barca TV . "Clearly, they're not going through their best moment. They've had a change of coach and they'll have to adapt bit by bit.

"We'll see how they are and how everyone is heading into February, but without a doubt, we'll have to prepare for the tie really well.

"It'll be a strong atmosphere, with a big stadium, one of those where the fans are very close. But that's fine.

"In that sense, we're used to playing in front of atmospheres of this kind and it'll be beautiful to experience everything in general around Naples as a city."

Gattuso, meanwhile, has promised Napoli will go into the tie determined to give a strong account of themselves.

"Barcelona are a great team and it will be a big challenge across two fascinating games," he said. "We'll show no fear."

Napoli will have chances to test themselves against the best before they meet Barca, with fixtures against Serie A top two Inter and Juventus before the end of January.

Barca have an upcoming Clasico with Real Madrid to concentrate on for the time being, while they will also play Atletico Madrid and Valencia before the Champions League returns in February.

 

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.