Napoli v Barcelona: Champions League last 16 betting preview, free tip & TV

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Napoli v Barcelona in the Champions League last 16.

Where to watch

BT Sport 3, 8pm Tuesday

Best bet

Barcelona
1pt 6-5 Betfair, Paddy Power
Back this tip with Paddy Power

Team news

Napoli
Kalidou Koulibaly is out with a muscular injury while Arkadiusz Milik could return to the starting line-up.

Barcelona
Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele, Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto are all out for Barcelona. New signing Martin Braithwaite is ineligible to play in the Champions League this season.

Match preview

Gennaro Gattuso won the Champions League twice as a player but his first match in the competition as a manager is a baptism of fire against the gargantuan Barcelona.

The Catalan club strolled through a challenging group featuring Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan and Slavia Prague earlier this season and go into this game in fine form.

They made a stuttering start to the season but a Spanish Super Cup semi-final defeat to Atletico Madrid prompted the dismissal of Ernesto Valverde and replacement Quique Setien has enjoyed seven wins in nine games since taking the reins.

Once graced by one diminutive Argentinian superstar in Diego Maradona, the Stadio San Paolo will welcome another this week with Lionel Messi travelling to Naples after a four-goal haul which helped the club to their latest success against Eibar.

Messi's form can often be an indication of the overall mood at the Camp Nou and Barca are in high spirits going into a crunch week in the Champions League and La Liga with Sunday's Clasico away to Real Madrid on the horizon.

Away form has been a persistent worry for Barcelona but they appeased concerns with wins against the intimidating backdrops of Prague and Milan during the group stage.

Napoli's home form is unlikely to leave Barcelona quaking in their boots either. The Serie A outfit have won only four of their 12 home fixtures in the league, going from title chasers last season to a club scrambling around for a European berth this term.

Gattuso revealed that as a player he remembers Barcelona often "mentally destroyed" Italian players and Napoli could lack the psychological resolve and tactical flexibility to tame the visitors.

The hosts are often reliant on possession football, with only Juventus (57.2 per cent) seeing more of the ball on average in Serie A this term than Napoli (57 per cent).

Hitting Barca on the break is often key to finding a path to create chances but Napoli have not been credited with a counter-attacking goal all season in Serie A.

The absence of key centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly is also a massive blow for a club who have managed only five clean sheets in 25 league contests and backing Barca to take a first-leg lead could be the way to go.