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Soccer

It would be a "miracle" if Napoli knock out Barcelona - Hamsik

Napoli legend Marek Hamsik says it will be a "miracle" if his former side knock Barcelona out of ...



It would be a
Soccer

It would be a "miracle" if Napoli knock out Barcelona - Hamsik

Napoli legend Marek Hamsik says it will be a "miracle" if his former side knock Barcelona out of the Champions League.

They meet at the San Paolo tonight for the first leg of their round of 16 tie with LaLiga champions Barcelona considered favourites to progress to the last-eight.

"It would be a kind of miracle, but in football everything is possible," Slovakian midfielder Hamsik told Spanish daily Marca.

"We are strong at the San Paolo. We've beaten Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain... You see the side's strength there and it'll be hard for Barcelona. They play well and Messi is the best in the world, but Napoli shouldn't be afraid to attack them. Barcelona concede a lot in defence.

"The stadium will be full and there's a great desire to see the team respond. I'll watch it calmly with a good glass of wine."

The Blues jettisoned Carlo Ancelotti after the group stages of the competition and Hamsik has been impressed with how Gennaro Gattuso has performed in dugout since:

"With Gattuso we have improved, now we are more compact, more than we were.

"We'll see if we can give Barcelona trouble. We are waking up and we need to at least qualify for the Europa League or the Champions League."

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