One of the biggest fixtures to look out for in the Europa League Barcelona paired with Napoli in a heavyweight clash among European sides, with the continental adventure for one set to end disappointingly early.
Under Xavi Hernandez, Barca dropped down after finishing third in the Champions League - though most of their group campaign was under Ronald Koeman. They have been on a gradual path of improvement and their attacking signings in January should give them a boost as they look to earn silverware in the second-tier competition.
However, Xavi opted to leave Dani Alves out of his European squad in the end, which caused a few raised eyebrows.
Napoli finished second behind Spartak Moscow in their Europa group, nudging Premier League team Leicester City down to the Europa Conference League along the way.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the game.
When is the match?
The game kicks off at 5:45pm GMT on Thursday 17 February at the Camp Nou.
Where can I watch it?
This match will be broadcast live on BT Sport ESPN. Subscribers can stream via the BT Sport app and desktop website.
Why is there a play-off round?
The new format of the Europa League, plus the formation of the Europa Conference League, means an extra round of fixtures before the last-16 stage. This preliminary knock-out round is comprised of the eight group stage runners-up, plus the eight third-placed sides from the Champions League groups who have dropped into this competition. The winners of each play-off tie progress to the last 16, to face one of the eight Europa League group stage winners.
Predicted line-ups
FCB - Ter Stegen, Mingueza, Pique, Eric, Alba, Busquets, F De Jong, Pedri, Adama, Ferran, Aubameyang
NAP - Ospina, Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Koulibaly, Rui, Anguissa, Ruiz, Elmas, Zielinski, Insigne, Osimhen
Odds
Barcelona 1/1
Draw 27/10
Napoli 3/1
Prediction
Barcelona to slightly edge the first leg if Napoli don’t go full strength, setting up an intriguing return game in Italy. Barcelona 1-0 Napoli.
