This match was another pre-season friendly, as the start of the 2014-15 season was coming ever closer in both the Liga BBVA and Serie A respectively. Barcelona were eager to prove to everyone that they were the dominant force in Europe again, while Napoli had a new-look to their team after being active in the transfer window and giving their youth a chance to shine.
Both teams were without some of their key players, Barcelona were missing Messi and Neymar while Napoli did not have Higuain available for selection. So it was time for some of the lesser-known players to make their mark ahead of the new campaign.
10 minutes in, Barcelona were dominating the ball and passing around the pitch trying their best to frustrate Napoli. But, the Italian outfit showed their power on the counter attack after clearing a corner away, Italian creative midfielder Lorenzo Insigne sprinted past his marker and looked goal-bound, but for a desperate sliding challenge from Spanish winger Pedro giving away a costless-kick.
And Napoli almost went ahead soon afterwards, but for a wonder stop by new Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo doing well to deny midfielder Marek Hamsik with an acrobatic block out for a corner after his power header looked goal-bound. This match was intriguing to look, as both teams had something to prove. Barcelona have fallen from their perch in the past few years and Napoli wanted to show that they could be an Italian superpower just like Juventus has been for many years.
As the match continued, neither side was able to fully break down the other. Barcelona looked comfortable in possession but could not get past the Napoli defence. Napoli looked dangerous on the counter attack, but the game needed a moment of magic to separate the teams.
In the 32nd minute, things started to get interesting again: Rakitic did well to set Munir through on-goal, with a one-on-one chance against the goalkeeper but the young striker was unable to finish his opportunity thanks to good goalkeeping by Rafael to come out of his area and close down the angle, pressuring him into taking an early shot and parrying the danger.
After Rafael's vital save to keep it 0-0, Insigne did well to beat the Barcelona markers on the flank and whip in a teasing cross into the area for Zapata, but it trickled past his path and Barcelona were lucky to be let off.
Despite both teams going close before the half-time whistle, it was 0-0 going into the interval. Barcelona kept the ball well, but had been unable to break down the Napoli defence, who have stayed solid and kept their shape when under pressure and only conceded a few chances thanks to the defence-splitting passing from Rakitic and Iniesta.
As the second-half began, there was three substutitions, and there were all from Napoli. Michu, Mesto and Ghoulam all came on, as Britos, Zapata and Maggio were consequently replaced.
In the 50th minute, Barcelona got forward well and almost broke the deadlock. A great long through ball across to the flank by Pique spotted the run of left-back Alba, who darted towards the edge of the area and passed the ball across the box towards the path of winge
The game continued and it stayed goal-less despite some continued Barca pressure, with some more substitutions being made from both sides as Napoli stayed strong at the back.
Among the notable substitutions were Barcelona winger Gerard Deulofeu came on with 15 minutes to play, after his successful loan spell at Everton in the Premier League.
The deadlock was eventually broken, with 10 minutes to spare plus stoppage time. Napoli took the lead to make it 1-0 thanks to a long-range 30-yard effort by midfielder Blerim Dzemali, whose shot was parried by Bravo, who ended up being unable to stop the ball from bouncing out of his hands into the net. Pedro, who shot first time and saw his effort spin just narrowly wide of the post. Close, but not close enough.
In the 60th minute, Barcelona made a double sub - Busquets and El Haddadi off for Samper and Ramirez. Barca had been dominating the whole of the second-half, but had nothing to show for it so far so something had to be done, right? The Chilean keeper will not have been happy with that, having fumbled a long-range effort into his own net.
Barcelona tried their best to get back into the match, Deulofeu came close but it was too little too late for a team who struggled to take their chances against an organised Napoli team with a gameplan, which worked in the end.