That’s all for now. Thanks as always for following along and be sure to check back later for a full match report.
Full time: Napoli 0-4 Barcelona (Agg: 1-6)
And there’s the whistle. Barcelona are winners of the inaugural La Liga-Serie A Cup today’s 4-0 thrashing of Napoli, winning 6-1 on aggregate.
88 min: Barcelona have not let up on the gas here, even as it seems Napoli have all but conceded the middle third and raised a white flag. A couple minutes of normal time to go.
85 min: A frustrated Mario Rui comes in late on a challenge and is probably lucky to avoid a second yellow for it, but the referee is content to let the sides play on.
83 min: Coutinho takes a crack from 30 yards. It’s on target and forces a save but an elementary one.
80 min: A rare chance from Napoli here but the shot from outside the area sails high over the crossbar and the head of Ter Stegen, who’s been reduced to a spectator for nearly all of the half.
77 min: And Ruiz very nearly makes it five! But the flag was straight up and it would have been disallowed even if it hadn’t gone just wide of the far post.
75 min: Another switch for Barcelona as Ruiz comes on for the goalscorer Dembele.
72 min: Mario Rui is shown yellow for a late challenge. The wind has come out of the sails of this one quite a bit.
70 min: Today’s official attendance is 60,043, which is about two-thirds capacity of the world’s largest stadium outside of North Korea.
66 min: Vidal, Coutinho and Arthur enter for their first appearances of the preseason along with Umtiti and Rafinha. Exiting the match are Alena, Pique, Griezmann, Suarez and Semedo.
GOAL! Napoli 0-4 Barcelona (Dembele, 63 min)
All three of Barcelona’s front line are on the score sheet after a clinical finish by Dembele. The Spanish lead 6-1 on aggregate and it seems a big wave of substitutions are forthcoming.
62 min: A couple more changes for Napoli as Mario Rui comes in at left back and Di Lorenzo at right back, taking the places of Hysaj and Ghoulam.
GOAL! Napoli 0-3 Barcelona (Suarez, 58 min)
A breakdown by Napoli is penalized as Dembele slips an inch-perfect pass to Suarez, who curls in a gorgeous goal from the edge of the area into the top-right corner of the frame. A highlight-reel strike makes it two for the Uruguayan on the day.
GOAL! Napoli 0-2 Barcelona (Suarez, 56 min)
A wonderfully constructed team goal by Barcelona with no less than a dozen uninterrupted short passes ending with Jordi Alba darting into the six-yard box to poke it home unmolested. Simply beautiful.
54 min: Napoli win a corner but it’s poorly delivered toward the near post in defiance of the many white shirts in the box and out for a goal kick. Wasteful, that.
51 min: Barcelona are on the break once again behind Dembele and he wins a corner, the team’s second of the match. Every outfield player in the penalty area. It’s played long to Suarez, but his volley is mishit and dragged wide of the goal. A rollocking start for the Spanish side here in the second half.
GOAL! Napoli 0-1 Barcelona (Suarez, 48 min)
A gorgeous flick from Suarez to Griezmann, who looks quite a bit offside. Griezmann’s shot is saved by the keeper, but Suarez charges in to stuff home the rebound and Barcelona are on the board today and ahead 3-1 on aggregate. The Napoli players are protesting vehemently. Indeed, Griezmann did look a yard offside ... but the goal stands and Barça are in the driver’s seat.
46 min: And we’re off for the second half! Three substitutions for Napoli at the interval with Zielinski, Luperto and Insigne coming on for Allan, Chiriches and Elmas. No changes for Barcelona.
The players and referees are making their way back on the pitch for the second half. We should be under way momentarily.
Half time: Napoli 0-0 Barcelona
Barcelona had the advantages in possession and chances, but Napoli have held the to a scoreless draw through 45 minutes. Plenty more to come from Ann Arbor.
Updated
43 min: Suarez hits a volley from inside the area and forces a good save upstairs from Meret. He wins the first corner of the day for the Spanish side, but nothing comes of it and it’s easily cleared.
41 min: Another pacy run into the final third by Dembele, who cuts into the center and this time takes a shot himself from the top of the box. It’s a fine effort hit with venom but it’s just wide of the goal. The best chance of the game so far.
40 min: Griezmann goes down rather easily, prompting a cacophony of jeers from the pro-Barcelona crowd. But the referee correctly urges both sides to play on.
39 min: Verdi comes in on the right side and rips a left-footed shot from about 20 yards, but it’s poorly hit and sails wide of the goal for a goal kick.
35 min: A good chance for Barcelona as Griezmann tries to pick out Pique but it falls to Dembele, whose shot is blocked.
34 min: A Mertens shot flicks out off De Jong and Napoli win the first corner of the day ... but it’s quickly turned away back into the middle third.
33 min: A steady technical build-up from Napoli over the last two minutes ends with a head-scratcher of a long-range shot from Allan, which is not well delivered and easily handled by Ter Stegen.
30 min: Dembele storms forward to pressure the Napoli back line again, but once more his final pass to Suarez is way off the mark, prompting an eye-roll from the frustrated Uruguayan striker.
27 min: The choppy pace of the last 10 minutes continues as Manolas is caught late by Griezmann on a challenge and takes his time picking himself off the pitch.
22 min: Napoli win a free kick from the edge of the area, but it’s headed away from the mouth of the goal by Pique and Barcelona are quick on the counter-attack. As the Spaniards build up, the Napoli left back Ghoulam goes down with an injury ... right on time for the designated hydration break.
20 min: De Jong is down momentarily for an injury, but it won’t require a visit from the medical staff. Not quite a capacity crowd today in the Big House, but it sure is loud.
17 min: Dembele makes another marauding run up the right flank into the attacking third but his final pass is just off the mark. The French winger has been a handful today.
13 min: The ball is slipped into space behind the Napoli defense and Suarez runs onto it, but he can’t muscle it toward his shooting foot and he’s dispossessed. Moments later Griezmann has a golden chance eight yards from goal but his left-footed shot skids inches wide of the far post.
10 min: Some nice interplay between Suarez and Dembele on the right side ends with Suarez crossing it into space, but there are no yellow shirts in the vicinity and it’s easily collected by Meret.
7 min: Suarez is hacked down about 40 yards from the goal and wins a free kick but it’s played short. The Spaniards have dominated possession in the early going and Napoli are having trouble getting the ball out of their half.
3 min: No Messi, no Rakitic, but Barcelona still looking awfully dangerous in the opening stages with a couple of near-chances.
1 min: And they’re off! Barcelona attacking from left to right in their all-yellow away strips, Napoli in their all-white third kits. Napoli pressing very high up the pitch to start out here.
The players have taken the pitch in Ann Arbor. Five changes for Napoli from last week’s opening leg, a whopping nine for Barcelona. We should be under way any moment now.
The teams
Hello and welcome to Ann Arbor for today’s friendly between Napoli and Barcelona. We’re just under a half hour from kickoff at the 107,601-seat home of the Michigan Wolverines, so we’ll dispense with the throat-clearing ahead of today’s preseason finale and get right to the team sheets.
Barcelona
XI: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Lenglet, Alba; Roberto, De Jong, Aleñá; Dembélé, Suárez, Griezmann
Subs: Neto, Peña, Todibo, Umtiti, Wagué, Firpo, Busquets, Rakitic, Arthur, Vidal, Puig, Coutinho, Rafinha, Pérez, Ruiz
Napoli
XI: Meret; Hysaj, Manolas, Chiriches, Ghoulam; Verdi, Allan, Fabián, Elmas; Milik, Mertens
Subs: Ospina, Karnezis, Maksimovic, Luperto, Di Lorenzo, Mário Rui, Zielinski, Gaetano, Callejón, Younes, Insigne
Updated
Bryan will be here shortly.
