Barcelona welcomed Napoli to the Camp Nou this evening in the first straight knockout round of the Europa League. It's an interesting clash between two of Europe's most historic football clubs, which could very well end up in the Champions League.
but it's not like that. Barcelona crashed out of the Europa League after failing to drop out of their Champions League group, finishing third behind Bayern Munich and Benfica.
Napoli, usually a Champions League participant, made the leap to Europe's second-tier competition this season. They finished second in their group after Spartak Moscow.
Barcelona are currently fourth in La Liga, level on points with fifth-placed Atletico Madrid and one point ahead of sixth-placed Real Sociedad. Next to them are Real Betis, Sevilla and Real Madrid.
Napoli are third in Serie A, one point behind Internazionale and two points behind league leaders Milan. Juventus are in fourth place, seven points behind a club synonymous with the south of Italy.
Xavi Hernandez is expected to score four goals in a 4-3-3 formation with Marc-Andre ter Stegen behind Sergio Dest, Eric GarcÃa, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba.
Frankie de Jong will anchor the midfield with Nico Gonzalez and Pedri, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang can make his debut with Adama Traore and Gavi.
Luciano Spalletti is expected to score four goals in 4-2-3-1 with Alex Meret behind Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rahmani, Kalidou Koulibaly and Mario Rui.
Andre-Franc will sit in the double pivot with Zambo Anguisa and attacking tridents from Fabian Ruiz, Elif Elmas, Piotr Zielinski and Lorenzo Insigne, trailing lead man Victor Osimhen.