Gennaro Gattuso: Napoli 'Will Buy Helmets and Armour' for 2nd Leg with Barcelona

Napoli boss Gennaro Gattuso said his side will be prepared when they take on Barcelona in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie. 

The Partenopei held the Catalan giants to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday in Naples.

"We know the difficulties we are going through," Gattuso said, per Goal's Dejan Kalinic. "We will buy helmets and armour. We will get all the necessary [tools] and will play the next game. Nothing is over."

The Italian also reserved praise for his side. He told Sky Sport Italia (h/t Goal's Sacha Pisani), Napoli had to adapt their approach because of Barcelona's attacking threat, which he felt they did well:

"They force you to defend deep, and we had to play like that, because if there were spaces back there, they could really hurt us.

"I think they barely grazed us tonight, they hardly had a single shot on goal. They could've been there all night and not scored, but we conceded after one single error. They didn't hurt us, it barely tickled."

Dries Mertens gave Napoli the lead in the 30th minute with a superb strike from the edge of the area (U.S. only):

Antoine Griezmann replied for the visitors in the second half (U.S. only):

Arturo Vidal was sent off late for two bookable offences. He caught Mario Rui with a late challenge before an aggressive confrontation with him (UK only):

Griezmann's goal was one of only two shots Barca had on target at the Stadio San Paolo, but football writer and broadcaster Carlo Garganese was unhappy with the way Napoli set up against them:

Tuesday's match was the fifth time Barca have played away from home under Quique Setien since he took charge in January.

In their previous four, they made life difficult for themselves in 2-1 and 3-2 wins over Ibiza and Real Betis, respectively, either side of defeats at Valencia and Athletic Bilbao.

Barca, being at home in the second leg with an away goal under their belts, have the slight edge in the tie.

However, they'll be without the suspended Vidal and Sergio Busquets, who picked up a yellow card to earn a one-match ban.

He was one of Barca's top performers on Tuesday, per Squawka's Muhammad Butt:

The Blaugrana will still be able to call upon the likes of Frenkie de Jong, Arthur and Ivan Rakitic, but Busquets' absence in particular will leave them more vulnerable.

Mertens has six goals and one assist to his name in seven Champions League appearances this season, so with him in the side, Napoli pose plenty of threat to Barcelona.