No Napoli for Barcelona stars Pedri and De Jong

Barcelona will not be able to rely on star duo Pedri and Frenkie De Jong for their Champions League Round of 16 clash with Napoli.

The Blaugrana were held to a 1-1 draw by the defending Italian champions in their first meeting last month, when Robert Lewandowski’s opener was cancelled out by Victor Osimhen’s equaliser, keeping things level heading into the return leg.

In the meantime, Napoli have started to rediscover their form a little, winning their last two Serie A outings against Sassuolo and Juventus. Barcelona have found a little more difficulty, beating Getafe but being held to a goalless draw against Athletic Club. 

As officially announced today, Barcelona will not be able to count on Pedri or De Jong against Napoli after the former suffered a right quadriceps injury and the latter picked up a right ankle ligament sprain, ruling them out of the return leg with Napoli on March 12th.

The Partenopei are desperate to progress in the Champions League as reaching the semi-finals would qualify them for next year’s Club World Cup in place of current candidates Juventus.