Griezmann salvages draw for Barca at Napoli
Antoine Griezmann rescued a 1-1 draw for Barcelona at Napoli within the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.
Frenchman Griezmann struck just before the hour mark for Barca in Naples after Dries Mertens had put the hosts ahead within the 30th minute together with his 121st Napoli goal, equalling the club all-time top scorer Marek Hamsik.
Barcelona ended the sport with 10 men after Arturo Vidal was sent off with two minutes to travel after learning two yellow cards, following a angry clash with Napoli defender Mario Rui.
Lionel Messi did not score on his introduction at the Stadio San Paolo where Napoli legend Diego Maradona reigned supreme three decades ago.
The 32-year-old Messi scored four goals at the weekend in Barcelona's 5-0 convert Eibar that put the Spaniards back top of los angeles Liga, but couldn't increase his 114 Champions League goals.
The clash was the primary between the 2 teams and also a Champions League debut for Barcelona coach Quique Setien and Napoli's Gennaro Gattuso, who both took over after the group stage.
Messi fired over on nine minutes after combining well with Frenkie de Jong but Gattuso's side piled the pressure on the Catalans.
Their pressing paid off on the half-hour mark, with Piotr Zielinski breaking free down the proper before finding Mertens, who curled a powerful finish past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
He equalled Hamsik's record and is now six goals beyond Maradona, but was forced off within the last half after a Sergio Busquets tackle that the Spaniard are going to be suspended for the second leg.
Barcelona didn't waste much time in aged level terms, as Messi and Busquets combined to send Semedo into the box up the 57th minute.
The Portuguese full-back crossed low for Griezmann to power home right-footed.
Ter Stegen denied Lorenzo Insigne with Jose Callejon also missing an opportunity for a second, as did Messi with eight minutes to travel .
Vidal was sent off after a sliding tackle on Rui before appearing to headbutt the Napoli defender.
The Chilean also will miss the return leg at the Camp Nou on March 18.
