Barcelona (AFP)

Despite the chaos, Barcelona will see Lisbon! Stuck in a nagging crisis, Barça of the providential Lionel Messi swept Naples on Saturday in the eighth return of the Champions League (3-1) to qualify for an unprecedented "Final 8" in Portugal, with the hope of saving his season.

In the quarter-finals on August 14, the Catalans will meet Bayern Munich, Chelsea striker 4-1.

The Barça phoenix is ​​reborn from its ashes: faced with a less seasoned and dominated Naples, the Blaugranas, who are coming out of a catastrophic season, have found color at the best time to save their 2019-2020 exercise, in the wake of a Lionel Messi scorer and still brilliant.

- Timely resurrection -

After a season without any title, a Spanish crown conceded to rival Real Madrid, repeated sporting setbacks, cascading injuries and serial scandals, the light has returned at the perfect time in the Barcelona house.

It was the French international defender Clément Lenglet who first sounded the revolt, with a well-placed header from a corner (10th) ... before the inevitable Messi entered the scene.

The Argentinian superstar doubled the bet after a slalom in the box (23rd), saw his second goal refused for a hand (30th), then caused the penalty of 3-0 transformed by Luis Suarez (45th + 1) before the reduction of Lorenzo Insigne's score ... again on a penalty (45th + 5).

A timely resurrection for Barça, entangled in a nightmare season and who had only this Champions League to hope to open an enchanted parenthesis in the middle of all this disorder.

"We will have to change in depth if we want to fight for the + Champions +. Because if not, the match against Naples, we will lose it too", had fulminated the six-fold Ballon d'Or Messi in July, once the La Liga title lost, in an attempt to poke his teammates before the "Champions".

Successful objective: after a few weeks "to clear your head", as the "Pulga" ("chip", in Spanish) had wished, Barça succeeded in its summer moult: in the wake of a back Messi at its best, the Catalans offered a game much more interesting than at the end of the Spanish league, with increased transmissions, presence in attack and confidence in defense.

- Another "Everest" in quarters -

Barça has healed its wounds. But it is above all the Blaugrana coach Quique Setién who can push a big sigh of relief: threatened following the mediocre end of the Barcelona season in La Liga after a white season only eight months after his appointment, Setién has proved that his group was able to respond during an extremely important match.

"It didn't cross my mind that it could be my last game. I'm fine. I think we will continue and we will tackle the rest of the competition until the end in Portugal, with the same energy and the same enthusiasm ", assured the technician, full of confidence, Friday in press conference before the match.

For Napoli, who will have to be content with the Europa League next season, the elimination is no surprise. Even if he had shown that he was capable of destabilizing the illustrious FC Barcelona and all his stars in the first leg (1-1), on Saturday, Napoli proved to be even weaker than a weakened Barça.

Insigne's goal, which had just returned from pain in the left adductor, was not enough to "climb Everest" in Catalonia, as Italian coach Gennaro Gattuso described it on Friday.

FC Barcelona is however still far from being a mountain of solidity. And facing another peak in Europe, Bayern Munich, next Friday in the quarter-finals, it will be a new test for Setién, Messi, and the regained confidence of the Catalans.

© 2020 AFP