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Three things we learned from Barcelona’s win over Napoli

By Ernesto Hernandez

Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring a goal. (Photo by LLUIS GENE / AFP) (Photo by LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images)
Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring a goal. (Photo by LLUIS GENE / AFP) (Photo by LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (R) celebrates with teammates. (Photo by LLUIS GENE / AFP) (Photo by LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images) /

Barcelona’s Champions League hopes stay alive as they get past Napoli.

Barcelona’s season is not over as the team managed by Quique Setien booked their ticket to Lisboa after a 3-1 against Serie A side Napoli.

Despite the layoff following the end of La Liga season, there were little signs of fatigue or rust from the Barcelona players. However, the result does not tell the whole story.

The performance by the Catalans was a microcosm of not only this season but their last handful of seasons.

1. Barcelona will only get as far as Lionel Messi takes them.

The man of the match, unsurprisingly, was Lionel Messi. The Argentine scored a trademark Messi goal that increased their lead. Falling but getting back up, he curved a shot with his trademark left foot past David Ospina.

He would have had a brace but the goal was called back by VAR. But he did have a hand in the third goal as he was fouled in the box by Kalidou Koulibaly that led to a penalty that was converted by Luis Suarez.

It was another game in which the most important player for Barcelona was Messi. But apart from Messi, there was very little from the rest of the team.

Clement Lenglet opened up the score with a header off a penalty but was fortunate the goal wasn’t called back as the Frenchman did push off the Napoli defender to free himself up.

Still, apart from that and a decent performance from Frenkie de Jong, all it took was about a half hour from Messi to be the difference.

It’s what one expects from arguably the best player in the world but it was another example of Barcelona’s over-reliance on him. He was in considerable pain after the penalty and despite having a two-goal lead coming out of the break, he played the entire game.

The logical thing would have been to take him out at halftime as a precaution. But there simply isn’t anyone else up front who can provide what he does so Quique Setién felt forced to keep him out there.

Sometimes it seems that the only think keeping a sputtering Barcelona afloat is Lionel Messi. To no one’s surprise, it will be up to him to carry this team on his back as he’s done so much in the past.

Barcelona’s Champions League hopes fall on the back of Messi. They will only get as far as Messi can take them. If they want to win the tournament, someone else is going to have to step up and help carry the load.

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