Napoli beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 on Wednesday to succeed in the Champions League quarter-finals for the primary time within the membership’s historical past – and make it three Italian sides within the final eight.
Victor Osimhen continued his high-quality goalscoring document with one objective in every half and Piotr Zielinski transformed a second-half penalty as Napoli went 5-0 on combination.
It’s the first time since 2006 that three Italian groups have certified for the quarter-finals of Europe’s most essential membership competitors.
There are not any restrictions on groups from the identical nation taking part in one another, so Napoli may face both Inter Milan or AC Milan within the draw on Friday.
The opposite groups within the backside eight are Bayern Munich, Benfica, Chelsea, Manchester Metropolis and Actual Madrid.
Hassle within the metropolis streets between supporters spoiled the night however on the pitch it was one-sided as a Piotr Zielinski penalty sealed victory for the Serie A leaders.
Napoli had been all the time favorites to progress after a high-quality win in Germany and Osimhen’s high-quality header from the half-time mark despatched them on their approach.
An in depth vary end after the restart nearly ensured secure passage earlier than Zielinksi gained and netted a spot kick.
Opta statistics: A historic night for Napoli…
- Napoli certified for the quarter-finals of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League for the primary time of their historical past.
- Napoli’s victory tonight marks the most important combination win by an Italian facet within the UEFA Champions League Spherical of 16, together with Juventus 5-0 Celtic in 2012-13 and Milan 5-0 Intern in 2004-05 ( a kind of legs was a rewarded win in Milan).
- Following Napoli’s progress, and together with Intern and Milan, it is the primary time that at least three Italian groups have reached the quarter-finals of a UEFA Champions League marketing campaign since 2005-06 (Inter, Milan and Juventus).
- Napoli scored extra targets within the UEFA Champions League than some other staff this season (25) – certainly solely three Italian groups have scored extra in a single marketing campaign within the competitors (Juventus 30 in 2002-03, Inter 26 in 2002-03 and Lazio 26 in 1999-00).
- Victor Osimhen grew to become the primary Napoli participant to attain in each matches of a UEFA Champions League knockout tie, whereas his brace in that sport was the primary scored by a Nigerian participant within the Spherical of 16 the competitors.
- Of all of the gamers in Europe’s massive 5 leagues, solely Marcus Rashford (15) has scored extra targets in all competitions in 2023 than Napoli’s Victor Osihmen (13).
- Eintracht Frankfurt have misplaced each ties in a European Cup/UEFA Champions League knockout tie for the primary time, whereas two of their 5 defeats in each competitions have come in opposition to Napoli.
When is the draw?
The quarter-final and semi-final attracts will happen at 11am UK time on Friday 17 March in Nyon, Switzerland at UEFA headquarters.
The eight winners of the Spherical of 16 are concerned in an open quarter-final and semi-final draw.
There are not any seeds and no safety from the nation, so golf equipment can face opposition from the identical nation. They’ll additionally draw groups that they’ve already performed within the group stage.
A ultimate draw may also happen to find out the “dwelling” staff for administrative causes for the showpiece occasion in Istanbul, Turkey on June 10.
You may observe the draw with Sky Sports activities’ stay weblog, so you’ll be able to observe all the pieces right here.
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