But aren't you mixing up two competitions here? Regarding La Liga, Barcelona was doing way better last season and their defense was particularly strong compared to the rest of the league. But in the Champions League they failed to advancd to the next round. Yes the group was easier this season, but they did make it and now we will see what their overall condition is. In La Liga it is not what anyone would have hoped for and I don't see a lot of potential for them to improve.
Napoli has its own set of struggles and this is what may ignite some hope within them. But Napoli is still Napoli and we will see one team that is in bad shape getting confirmed as one of the losers of this season.
Currently, after Ster Teegan got injury Barcelona have conceded many goals and their defense area not performed quit well not only in La Liga but also in UEFA Champion League. I doubt until this season over how many conceded goals again regarding Ster Teegan will absent until the end of this year, but have good opportunity with Barcelona opponent team Napoli have bad performance in 16 of round, their performance in Serie A not impressive well and new manager Walter Mazzari still not get quit well starting line up how to make Napoli keep in the top performance.
Its first 16 round appearance for Barcelona because last two season their journey in Champion League stuck on group round stage, for Napoli they have quit well performed in Champion League and last season almost raise to semifinal phase before defeating by AC Milan.