Napoli paid for poor finishing and wasted chances in their 2-1 friendly defeat to Barcelona in Miami, the first leg of the La Liga-Serie A Cup.

This was the first of two friendlies these clubs will play against each other on American soil, as they will meet in Ann Arbor on Saturday.

Antoine Griezmann stung Alex Meret’s gloves from distance, then Luis Suarez failed to turn in the rebound from a parried Carles Perez strike.

Napoli paid for poor finishing and wasted chances in their 2-1 friendly defeat to Barcelona in Miami, the first leg of the La Liga-Serie A Cup.

This was the first of two friendlies these clubs will play against each other on American soil, as they will meet in Ann Arbor on Saturday.

Antoine Griezmann stung Alex Meret’s gloves from distance, then Luis Suarez failed to turn in the rebound from a parried Carles Perez strike.

It was a very impressive line-up and performance from Carlo Ancelotti’s men once they got into gear, but it was the same old problem with their finishing.

Lorenzo Insigne completed a one-two with Fabian Ruiz only to waste, then Dries Mertens forced a save from point-blank range and eventually came sliding in at the back post to meet a Jose Callejon cross and somehow turned wide.

Barcelona took the lead against the run of play, as Sergio Busquets picked his spot and drilled into the bottom corner from outside the box, Piotr Zielinski backing off too much and allowing him to shoot.

Lorenzo Insigne almost drew level immediately, but Todibo managed a desperate block. The equaliser arrived moments later, as Callejon turned Junior Firpo inside out on his Barcelona debut and the attempted goal-line clearance from Samuel Umtiti failed to keep the ball out.

After the restart, Neto had to come flying outside the area to intercept a Mertens ball that was sending Zielinski clear, while Meret was alert from close range for a double save on Abel Ruiz.

Arkadiusz Milik came off the bench and skimmed the far post with practically his first touch, then forced a fingertip save from Neto just moments after an Ousmane Dembele curler smacked against the upright.

Napoli wasted an extraordinary opportunity on 75 minutes when Faouzi Ghoulam crossed to the back post, where Milik’s diving header somehow went over from three yards.

Inevitably, Barcelona took the lead moments later, with Ivan Rakitic hitting it low and true into the far bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Pouring forward to find an equaliser, Napoli were exposed at the back and Elseid Hysaj took one for the team with a booking for his blatant shirt-tug on Dembele. It only wasn’t a red because it was still in the centre-circle.

Milik forced another save from a tight angle and Simone Verdi fired straight at Neto with the last kick of the game.

Barcelona 2-1 Napoli

Sergio Busquets 39 (B), Umtiti og 42 (N), Rakitic 79 (B)

Barcelona: Neto; Wague (Semedo 65), Todibo (Pique 65), Umtiti, Junior Firpo; Riqui Puig (De Jong 65), Sergio Busquets, Rakitic; Carle Perez (Dembele 65), Suarez (Rafinha 46), Griezmann (Abel Ruiz 46)

Napoli: Meret; Di Lorenzo (Hysaj 76), Manolas (Luperto 57), Maksimovic, Mario Rui (Ghoulam 57); Zielinski, Elmas (Verdi 57); Callejon, Fabian (Gaetano 57), Insigne; Mertens (Milik 57)

Ref: Unkel (USA)

Image credit: @sscnapoli

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