Napoli v Barcelona more sad than ‘boring’ as these champions not in big league anymore | OneFootball

Napoli v Barcelona

In a perfect football world or a bygone era, a Champions League last-16 tie between reigning Serie A and La Liga champions would be a battle of the heavyweights, the clash of the round and, in a tired old cliche, ‘a final in all but name’.

Instead, Napoli v Barcelona is anything but – a sign of the predicament in which both clubs find themselves and a sad indictment of the club game as a whole.

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Last season saw each have unexpected title success, though Napoli’s was far more surprising.

Under the management of Luciano Spalletti, the Partenopei stormed to only their third ever Scudetto and their first since 1990, finishing 16 points clear of second-placed Lazio.

This was made all the more impressive by their relatively low net spend the summer before, which saw stalwarts Kalidou Koulibaly, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne depart. It felt like the end of an era, but instead it kickstarted an even better one.

In their place came, among others, Kim min-Jae and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who instantly became stars, spearheading their title challenge alongside Victor Osimhen, who top-scored the league with 26 goals.

This time last year, much was expected of them in the Champions League knockouts, particularly when they were placed on the so-called ‘easier’ side of the draw. They stumbled, however, losing to Milan at the quarter-final stage. It felt like a missed opportunity but domestic dominance more than made up for it.

Perhaps the same could not be said for Barcelona, who went out at the group stages and then lost to Manchester United in the Europa League knockout stage play-offs, but Xavi did lead Los Cules to La Liga success, ending a four-year wait.

It was seriously impressive work from the club legend, whose only managerial experience before returning to the Nou Camp came in the Qatar Stars League with Al Sadd.

Both clubs might have expected to kick on but that has not been the case, with Barcelona’s fall largely self-inflicted and avoidable, while Napoli’s failures being indicative of the issues around Italian football.

Barca’s financial issues have been long reported, with their current debt close to £1bn despite boasting revenue of roughly the same amount for the 2018/19 season.

A series of terrible financial decisions, which can be traced back to their activity after the world-record sale of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain, coupled with losses elsewhere and during the pandemic, have seen every one of those now-infamous ‘levers’ pulled, all to keep the club competitive.

When Joan Laporta returned to the club as president in 2021, he declared it “clinically dead”, later stating that it had improved but “remained in ICU”.

So, surely it would have made more sense to accept their situation, build around their array of excellent youth talents and look towards a brighter future?

But, no, Laporta seemingly could not tolerate a Barca that did not win, and mortgaged the club’s future to fund moves for Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres, Raphinha and others.

And for what? Likely just the one league title and an even more precarious and gloomy future.

That future include a rebuilt and renovated Nou Camp, which will only add to the bill the club needs to repay. What other parts of their soul they can sell is still to be seen, but it all feels very foolish.

The atmosphere around the club has not helped the team or Xavi. Barca are out of the La Liga title race and an icon of their most glorious years has already announced he will depart at the end of the season.

On his decision to leave, he said: “In Barcelona, you always feel like you’re not valued, you’re mistreated – that’s how the club works. From a mental-health level, it’s tough too. I am a positive guy, but the battery levels keep running out – and at some point, you realise there’s no point in staying.”

Hardly the words you want any prospective replacement to be hearing about a workplace.

Barca’s malaise has only been magnified and amplified by the contrast at Real Madrid, who look set to add Kylian Mbappe to Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and co. as they form a super squad of several of the world’s best young players. The Brazilian teen sensation Endrick is already on the way in the summer.

The gap between the clubs off the field is now evident on it – Real have won both games this season, the second a 4-1 drubbing in the Spanish Super Cup final. It feels like a scoreline that could be repeated in years to come in El Clasico.

On the other hand, Napoli’s descent is a bit more complex, and slightly less avoidable.

Serious missteps have been taken, of course, the first replacing Spalletti with Rudi Garcia, who appeared the wrong choice from day one. It didn’t help that their Scudetto-winning coach sprung a surprise and took a sabbatical, only to now be coaching the Italian national team.

Former manager Walter Mazzarri was parachuted in, with club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis hoping the man who worked wonders over a decade ago could steady the ship until the end of the season.

That ploy didn’t work and the 62-year-old was dismissed on the eve of the biggest game of the season. Hardly the sign of a club who has its house in order, nor is their current position of ninth in Serie A.

But there was always going to be a ceiling on Napoli’s success, as there is for all Italian clubs now. The Italian government’s recent decision to reverse tax breaks on foreign signings, which was introduced in 2020, will only hamper them further.

It was obvious after their stunning season that wealthier and ‘bigger’ clubs would target their best players. Kim was the first to jump ship, moving to Bayern Munich last summer, and Osimhen is set to follow this time around.

It would not be a surprise if Kvaratskhelia departed either, particularly with any European qualification looking a near-impossible task.

Their revenue and financial might does just not stack up with English clubs, or Bayern, Real and Barca – the latter should still be competing for the biggest trophies and the best players, which only makes their downfall all the worse.

Juventus briefly looked capable of competing again at the very top, making finals in 2015 and 2017, but even then, they sold Paul Pogba back to Manchester United. Their fall from grace has largely been of their own doing, so there is far less sympathy for the Old Lady.

Inter Milan were finalists last year but, again, that was largely due to a draw that saw Real, Bayern and eventual champions, Manchester City, all on the other side.

The Nerazzurri remain the last Italian team to lift the famous trophy, way back in 2010, with only three finalists since. Barring a minor miracle, that will extend to a 15th season.

Simone Inzaghi’s league leaders do appear to have the best chance of putting together a run, but the winner of their own last-16 clash with Atletico Madrid is anyone’s guess.

Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville and others claimed the last-16 clashes last week felt “boring” and, while this week seems a bit more exciting, it does point to the issues that come as a result of such financial disparity at the apparent top level of the sport.

It feels as if only three or four clubs have a hope of winning the trophy, and that is including Bayern, who are experiencing a full-blown identity crisis right now.

Outside of the game itself, there were will be plenty of focus on Diego Maradona, a former player of the two clubs and the most iconic figure in Napoli, the club and the city.

His moves to Barca in 1982 and then from Barca to Napoli two years later boasted world-record fees, showing the might of Los Cules and Serie A as a whole in the 1980s, as well as the decade or so that followed for the latter. Fast-forward 40 years from his arrival in Italy, and there is no chance the best player in the world would move to the league or Barca in their current guises.

Mbappe’s name was not linked with either, nor would they have been considered by the French superstar.

Both games and the overall tie might be a great watch, such is the talent that will still be on show, but it will be little more than that, and no one will fear being drawn against either league champion in the next round. It’s a bit sad, isn’t it?