Barca struggles to reach the quarter-finals of the European Cup 1
In the first leg in Italy, Barca did not play well and were held to a 1-1 draw by Napoli. Therefore, coach Xavi's team had to win at home to qualify for the next round.
Coach Xavi fielded the strongest possible lineup for this match and did not hesitate to attack right after the opening whistle. Facing the pressure created by Barca, Napoli's defense could not hold out.
In the 15th minute, Barca launched a great attack on the left wing. Raphinha entered the penalty area and then made a very favorable pass for Fermin Lopez to score the opening goal of the match.
Barca struggled to reach the quarter-finals of the European Cup 1 (Photo: Reuters)
Exactly 2 minutes after opening the scoring, Barca doubled the gap in a quick attack. Raphinha dribbled the ball at high speed into the penalty area and then launched a tricky curling shot past the Porto goalkeeper, but the post denied the goal. Luckily for Barca, the ball bounced right to Cancelo, who tapped the ball precisely to make it 2-0.
After being 2 goals behind, Napoli were forced to chase, so the Italian representative pushed up the formation, putting significant pressure on Barca's field. In the 30th minute, the away team reduced the score to 1-2 thanks to Amir Rrahmani.
In the second half, Napoli continued to cause trouble for Barca. However, in the 83rd minute, Barca had an excellent attack, the ball fell to Robert Lewandowski, this striker tapped the ball close to the goal to seal a 3-1 victory, thereby bringing Barca to the quarter-finals, when winning 4-2 on aggregate after 2 matches.
"Spiderman" David Raya takes Arsenal into the quarter-finals
In the remaining match at Emirates Stadium, Arsenal had a lot of trouble against Porto's annoying play. It was not until the 41st minute of the match, after a great pass from Martin Ødegaard, that Leandro Trossard scored the opening goal for the home team.
At this time, the score after 2 matches is 1-1, so Arsenal still needs more goals to win the ticket to the next round. Therefore, coach Mikel Arteta directed his students to actively control the ball and attack Porto's goal.
Arsenal beat Porto on penalties to reach the quarter-finals of the European Cup 1 (Photo: Reuters).
However, on a day when Porto's defense played with concentration under the command of veteran Pepe, Arsenal were unable to score another goal in regular time.
In the two extra periods, Arsenal continued to attack diligently to find a goal, but were unsuccessful, so the two teams had to enter a penalty shootout. In the penalty shootout, goalkeeper David Raya became the hero for Arsenal when he successfully blocked two shots from Porto to help Arsenal win 4-2, thereby securing a ticket to the quarterfinals.
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