Osimhen caged as Barcelona and Napoli settle for another first leg draw

The Super Eagles forward Victor Osimhen was in action as Napoli were held to a 1-1 draw by Barcelona in the Europa League round of 32 first leg tie at Camp Nou.

Osimhen was full of running in the game and played 80 minutes after shaking off a knock to feature in the entertaining stalemate.

Both teams will go into the second leg next week with all to play after settling for another draw in the first leg, two years after they also played 1-1 in a Champions League round of 16 first-leg clash.

Piotr Zielinki's super goal gave the Italians a first-half lead but Barcelona equalised in the second half thanks to a Ferran Torres penalty for a share of the spoils.

Barcelona started well with Pedri going close with a long-range effort early on.

But it was Napoli who created the best chances with Nigeria's Victor Osimhen coming close for the visitors in the 21st minute.

An excellent through ball from Fabian Luiz put Osimhen through on goal, with just the goalkeeper to beat, the Super Eagles forward saw his tame left-footed attempt saved by Stegen.

Four minutes later, Barcelona had a chance of their own to break the deadlock through Ferran Torres following superb work from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

But with just the goalkeeper at his mercy, the young Spaniard fired his effort way off the mark from inside the box.

A minute later, Napoli broke the deadlock when Zielinski put them ahead with a ferocious effort.

Elmas initially found the attacking midfielder free inside the box but he watched as his effort off his left foot was well-saved by Ter Stegen, before the Polish star reacted quickest to fire home the rebound into the top corner to put Napoli ahead.

The Italians lead at the break despite Barcelona dominating possession as expected but have struggled to find a way behind the Napoli defense led by the rock-solid African champion, Kalidou Koulibaly.

Barcelona started the second half as they did the first, on a positive note as they continued to push for the equaliser.

The home side continued to dominate on the ball but lacked the needed cutting edge to create anything tangible.

But just before the hour mark, they were presented with a good chance to equalise when the VAR penalised Jesus for handling an Adama Traore cross in the box.

Torres stepped up to calmly convert from the spot to draw the host level in the 59th minute. 

It was all Barcelona thereafter as the hosts continued to dominate and pile on the pressure on their visitors in search of the winner.

Despite Xavi Hernandez making a couple of changes, they failed to find a way past Napoli with Ferran Torres missing again another good chance to score as the Italians held on for a draw heading into the second leg next week.