Real Madrid hosted Napoli in the round of 16 first leg game in the Champions league on Wednesday night and their night started on the back foot as Lorenzo Insigne scored with superb early shot catching Navas off guard to make it 1-0 for Napoli at Bernabue. However Madrid bounced back with a goal of their own thanks to Banzema who’s glancing header off Dani Carvajal’s cross found its way into the back of the net.
Real Madrid 1-1 Napoli Highlights
[ UEFA Champions League 2017 Match ]
08′ 0 – 1 Lorenzo Insigne caught Madrid keeper Navas early with a superb shot to make it 1-0 for Napoli and put gave them important away goal.
19′ 1 – 1 Karim Benzema however scored with a glancing header minutes later to cool off Napoli’s early pressure.
49′ 2 – 1 Toni Kroos scored just after the break to put Real Madrid 2-1 up and ease the nerves.
54′ 3 – 1 Casemiro put the curtains on the game as he notched up Real’s third of the night.
Match Highlights (English)
Real Madrid historically struggle against Italian sides having lost the two legged ties 7 times of the last 8 meeting between Madrid and Italian club. However last year that defeated Roma at the same stage to qualify for the quarterfinals. This Napoli team is a different cattle of fish though, they play exciting expensive football and top the scoring charts in Italy having scored 57 so far. Since second leg is in Italy, Napoli will fancy their chances if they can get a decent result in Bernabue.
Team News & Lineups: Toni Kroos will return to starting lineup having missed out Celta Vigo game over the weekend due to suspension while Modric and Casemiro start in midfield while Benzema, Ronaldo and Lucas to start upfront. Napoli on the other hand will use their very agile forward line of Insigne, Mertens and Callejon to disrupt Madrid back four while Hamsik, Zielinski and Allan to play in central midfield roles.
This is how I expect both teams to lineup on Wednesday night.
Match Predictions: Real Madrid has won two of the last 3 Champions League seasons and whoevery they were going to meet in round of 16, they would have been favourites to go through. Napoli has played 9 away fixtures in their short history in this competition and they have won 4, lost 4 and drawn 1. Ideally Napoli need a positive result to stand a chance of qualifying but a score draw will be good result to take back to Naples.
