Athletic Bilbao take the advantage over Napoli as they drew 1-1 Tuesday evening in Italy. It was a tight affair in which both clubs felt like they probably should have won the match heading into next Wednesday’s decisive match at the brand new San Memes.
Hamsik had the first two chances on the night within the first three minutes of the match. The first was a header from the middle of the eighteen yard box that he mistimed and sailed over the top of the goal. His second effort was better. The midfielder dribbled by a couple of Athletic defenders from near the top of the box, fired with his left foot, and just missed the bottom left corner of the goal.
Early on in the match, Napoli seemed as though they had all the possession. Athletic could not get a foothold into the match, which forced them to withstand pressure. The Italians pressed and pressed, but they couldn’t break down the stout Bilbao back four.
After nerves settled down a bit for the Spanish outfit, you could really see the quality in their side. They move the ball well, they like pressing the opposition to win the ball back quickly to continue to move up their pitch. They had a few half-chances in the first half, but nothing really came to fruition, because the team’s confidence grew as the seconds ticked by.
However, right before halftime, the visitors struck. Munain gave the all-crucial goal as he received the ball at the top of the box, had time and space. The young Spaniard lifted his head up and fired the ball back into the net. His first touch, to leave the ball at his feet was magnificent, and the second touch, immaculate. It sucked all the air out of the home supporters as it’s always vital to score right before the interval.
The second half started more brightly than the first 45 minutes. Bilbao were still playing their high defensive line, which worked well, as Napoli were caught offside on several occasions. Napoli, on the other hand, seemed to turn down their focus on the defensive side of the ball as Athletic had another 5 or 6 chances that they really should have buried, which may haunt them in the second leg.
Higuain scored a fantastic individual goal in the 68th minute as he made the Bilbao defense look completely shambolic. He dribbled at the top of the box and shot the ball from the right side, with a defender in front of him, and past the Bilbao ‘keeper. This goal will make Napoli’s task a little bit easier as they go into next week’s game, but they’ll still have to score at least one more in order to move on to the group stage of the Champion’s League.
Both clubs continued to press each other until the final whistle, but no one could break the deadlock as, but finishing from both will have to improve if they want to progress even further into the Champions League because without goal scoring, neither will be able to win many matches.