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#3 Hit: Frenkie de Jong
Although Frenkie de Jong’s transition from the Ajax midfield to that of Barcelona has not been as seamless as he would have hoped, performances like these show exactly why the Catalans were so eager to acquire his services.
The Dutchman was superb in midfield, adding a touch of elegance even to his ball-winning tackles and bringing the ball out of midfield time and again to start off a Barcelona attacking move.
Were it not for the ball brushing Messi’s hand as he brought it down before putting it in the net, de Jong would have had an assist to go with his polished display. Even so, the young Dutchman would be extremely pleased with his part in Barcelona’s win.
#2 Flop: Kalidou Koulibaly
If Napoli were to go through to the next round, they were always going to need a herculean effort from their defenders against a Barcelona side desperate for silverware to end a disappointing season on a high note.
However, despite playing his part in keeping Barcelona out on a few occasions, Koulibaly was involved to some degree in all three of Barcelona’s goals on the night. Not only did he concede the penalty for the third, but he also went down in the box (arguably through unfair means, although VAR found nothing wrong) in the build-up to the first.
He was also among a few Napoli defenders stumbling over their own feet before Messi scored the second. Linked with a whole host of clubs in this transfer window, it is in these decisive moments against the world’s best that Koulibaly needs to come out on top to be considered an elite-level centre-back.
#1 Hit: Lionel Messi
Like Barcelona, Messi started the game slowly, and for a moment it looked like it would be another disappointing night for the home side. It turned out that the Argentine was merely surveying the situation before bursting into life with yet another memorable individual effort to add to his collection.
The Barcelona skipper showed great tenacity and determination along with his usual superlative skill to somehow get past four Napoli defenders. he then stumbled to the deck, picked himself up again, and curled a shot around Kostas Manolas past David Ospina into the far corner to put his side 2-0 up.
Messi nearly had an equally remarkable second goal mere minutes later, bringing down de Jong’s chipped cross superbly before slotting home from close range, only for VAR to chalk it off for handball.
Not to be deterred, he went on to win a penalty for his side, nipping in front of Koulibaly just before he was about to clear the ball.
Messi was less involved in the second half as Napoli made more of a fist of it. Yet he was always Barcelona’s most threatening attacking outlet and looked likely to add to his tally throughout the game.
