February 18, La Liga's twenty-third round. Real Madrid hosted Espanyol.
Having learned from Barcelona's disastrous away defeat, Real Madrid fielded a rotated lineup against Espanyol. Most of their key players were being saved for the Champions League Round of 16 away leg against Serie A side Naples the following week.
In the end, the team beat Espanyol 2–0 at home with goals from Morata and Di Maria.
Barcelona, who had just suffered a disastrous away defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, faced newly promoted Leganés in this round.
Barcelona's performance remained unsatisfactory. Messi scored four minutes into the match, but Leganés soon equalized. It was not until the final stages that Messi's penalty gave Barcelona a narrow 2–1 victory over Leganés.
The player who conceded the goal was once again right-back Roberto.
On the evening of February 22, at São Paulo Stadium in Naples, Italy.
In the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, Real Madrid traveled to face Naples.
After the match began, Naples used their home advantage to attack first, while Real Madrid remained cautious, retreating into their own half to defend. They prioritized stability above all else. After all, the shadow of Barcelona's 4–0 away defeat to Paris Saint-Germain still reminded Real Madrid that there were no weak teams in the Champions League.
Naples had performed exceptionally well in Serie A that season, and they showed no fear at all against Real Madrid. Before the match in particular, Naples legend and King of Football Maradona had personally arrived at São Paulo Stadium to cheer them on, greatly boosting the Italian side's morale.
That was reflected in Naples's aggressive start. They played with great initiative and applied pressure to Real Madrid in the attacking third.
A poor back pass from Toni Kroos nearly led to