Napoli 1-1 Barcelona: Player ratings as Catalans pegged back in Italy

Barcelona were pegged back by Napoli as the spoils were shared in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.

The visitors controlled proceedings for the most part without being exceptional, and they took a deserved lead on the hour through Robert Lewandowski. Victor Osimhen, on his return to the Napoli lineup, equalised 15 minutes later as the two sides played out a 1-1 draw.

It's anyone's tie to snatch when Barca host the second leg on 12 March.

The Neapolitan faithful would've expected at least a minor resurgence in the wake of Walter Mazzarri's exit, but their laboured start set the tone for what was initially a dire Champions League showing.

Barcelona matched up against Napoli's build-up superbly, constantly turning the ball over high up the pitch. They couldn't, however, produce the killer moment in front of goal despite Ilkay Gundogan's guile and Joao Cancelo's dynamism down the left flank.

Xavi's decision to utilise Pedri as a fourth central midfielder gave Barca total control of the midfield as their box overwhelmed Napoli's trio. However, the visitors' superiority was fairly sterile as Alex Meret was tested pretty infrequently. The hosts, though, could not put any pressure on the Catalan visitors.

Eventually, Barca's superiority was rewarded as Robert Lewandowski produced a vintage sequence inside the Napoli box to give the visitors a deserved lead. A comfortable away win was seemingly in the offing, but Victor Osimhen sprung out of nowhere to restore parity and set up a potentially thrilling conclusion to proceedings.

The hosts enjoyed their brightest spell of the bout in the aftermath of Osimhen's equaliser as Barca went flat, but chances came few and far between at both ends of the pitch. With the