Vidal sees red as Barca are kept at bay
BARCELONA’S headaches in the Champions League knockout stages continued in Italy as they were held to a draw by Napoli in the first leg of their last-16 tie. And their frustration showed when Arturo Vidal was sent off after receiving two yellow cards in the 88th minute. The Chilean midfielder fouled Mario Rui and then butted heads in the aftermath. He will miss the return leg, as will Sergio Busquets who picked up his third caution in the tournament when he fouled Dries Mertens. The Spanish giants have run into a roadblock since winning the trophy in 2015, losing quarter-finals to Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Roma and a semi-final to Liverpool last season. They haven’t won in Italy since beating AC Milan in 2006, when current Napoli boss Gennaro Gattuso played for the hosts. There was an element of revenge for Gattuso, a tenacious defensive midfielder who has built the Napoli team in his own likeness. With two banks of defenders, they restricted the Catalans to only two shots on target while creating a cluster of their own opportunities. Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne said: ‘This result leaves a bitter taste. We played on level terms and showed sacrifice. I feel we could have had a better result in front of our fans, especially with the chances we created.’ Mertens was the beneficiary of Napoli’s counter-attacking in the 30th minute when Barca’s Junior Firpo failed to control the ball. Piotr Zielinski snatched it away and his low cross was curled into the top corner by Mertens from 18 yards. It was the Belgian’s 121st Napoli goal, tying the record for the club’s highest scorer with Marek Hamsik. Diego Maradona managed 115. Barca struck back in the 58th minute when Nelson Semedo found Antoine Griezmann free in front of goal and he fired home.