Barcelona and Napoli have contested the 'Maradona derby' several times down the years, with two teams eternally linked by a football icon locking horns more frequently of late.
The Serie A side - whose stadium is now named after Diego Maradona - have yet to defeat their rivals from Catalonia, despite coming close on a couple of occasions.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two teams.
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Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 8
Napoli wins: 0
Draws: 3
Barcelona wins: 5
Often pitched together in European competition over the past few years, Napoli and Barcelona have both found the net on each occasion, but the Italians have yet to beat their La Liga counterparts.
Most recently, a Champions League last-16 tie in 2024 saw Napoli settle for a 1-1 draw from their home leg, before suffering a 3-1 defeat at Barca's temporary headquarters at Montjuic, with Robert Lewandowski scoring in both games: as a result, the Serie A side are still to get the better of their Spanish rivals after eight attempts.
Having held the Catalan club to a 1-1 draw on their last visit to Camp Nou in February 2022, the Partenopei were well beaten back in Campania one week later, when hopes of progressing to the Europa League's latter stages quickly crumbled.
The visitors wasted no time in taking the lead through Jordi Alba, before Frenkie de Jong curled home Barca's second from distance. Though Napoli halved their deficit soon after - following Lorenzo Insigne's penalty conversion - Xavi's side struck again before half-time: Gerard Pique restored Barcelona's two-goal advantage.
Within 15 minutes of the re-start, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang found a fourth, rendering Matteo Politano's late strike a mere consolation for the disappointed fans at Stadio Maradona.
Two years earlier, the clubs had met in the Champions League's last 16, in a tie played either side of a six-month hiatus due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
In February 2020, Dries Mertens scored for Napoli, and Antoine Griezmann replied for Barcelona in Naples, but a pandemic intervened before the two-legged contest could reach its conclusion.
At an almost empty Camp Nou, nearly half a year later, Barca set up a quarter-final clash against Bayern Munich thanks to a frantic first half that saw Clement Lenglet, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez all find the net.
Messi was denied a second for handball, having already produced a superb run and sublime finish to put his team 2-0 up on the night; the Argentinian maestro also won the penalty that Suarez coolly converted.
There was still time for Insigne to respond from the spot during first-half stoppage time, but the second half was far less eventful and Barcelona ultimately ran out 4-2 aggregate winners.
Previous meetings
Mar 12, 2024: Barcelona 3-1 Napoli (Champions League Round of 16)
Feb 21, 2024: Napoli 1-1 Barcelona (Champions League Round of 16)
Feb 24, 2022: Napoli 2-4 Barcelona (Europa League Qualifying Playoffs)
Feb 17, 2022: Barcelona 1-1 Napoli (Europa League Qualifying Playoffs)
Aug 08, 2020: Barcelona 3-1 Napoli (Champions League Round of 16)
Feb 25, 2020: Napoli 1-1 Barcelona (Champions League Round of 16)
Aug 10, 2019: Barcelona 4-0 Napoli (friendly)
Aug 07, 2019: Napoli 1-2 Barcelona (friendly)
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Jonathan O'Shea
