Napoli secured a crucial 1-1 draw against Barcelona in the Europa League play-off first leg fixture at Camp Nou courtesy of a fine defensive display.
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Napoli head coach Luciano Spalletti admits Barcelona deserved a draw in the Europa League play-off first leg fixture at Camp Nou on Thursday. The match ended 1-1 as Ferran Torres scored from the penalty spot to cancel out Piotr Zielinski’s opener. The Partenopei came out with a clear game plan to sit back and defend and hit the opposition on the counter, and they did that to good effect to secure a crucial away draw, making it all square going into the second leg at Diego Maradona Stadium on February 25.
⏱ 90+9 | Full time ⏹#BarçaNapoli 1-1#UEL
? #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/8w6Zwpu2jh
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) February 17, 2022
Napoli has the best defensive record in the Serie A and they kept it tight at the back, not giving any space for the opposition to work with. Meanwhile Barca winger Traore was kept quiet for most parts of the game, though he won the decisive penalty kick in the second half. The front three of Barca, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Torres and Traore struggled to open up Napoli defence, while Torres did get three good chances but he didn’t have a great day in front of goal.
“We tried to keep it tight in the second half, but we ended up going too deep, and that is a problem when you do it against Barcelona,” confessed Spalletti on Sky Sport Italia.
“That was something we should not have done, although there is no doubting the quality of our opposition. There are these moments during a game where we don’t seem to be able to organise a high press, we pass it backwards and allow the other team to push up.
“These are areas where we really need to improve in future.”
The fixture was introduced by UEFA for the teams who finished third in their Champions League groups and in the Europa League, a two-legged play-off for access to the Round of 16. The away goal rule is no longer valid this season.
Barca started the second half with more intent, controlled the game and had more ball possession and deservedly leveled the score in the 59th minute when Traore’s cross grazed the fingertips of Juan Jesus. Nobody had complained at the time, but the referee was called back by VAR and awarded the penalty. Torres stepped up and calmly converted the spot-kick to make the score 1-1.
“I think in the first half we proved that we could play on level terms with Barcelona. They controlled the initiative after the break, but these are things that can be fixed. We can repeat the first half performance for an entire match.”
Spalletti was not pleased with the VAR call for Barca’s penalty, as nobody had even protested at the time, because Juan Jesus’ fingertips did not seem to change the flight of the Adama Traore cross.
“With all due respect, I will say Barcelona deserved a draw, but that penalty was non-existent,” said the coach. It doesn’t change direction. It didn’t touch his fingertips, it touched his little finger. The arm also seemed to be in a fairly natural position.
“Either defenders have to keep their hands behind their backs at all times, which limits movement when running, or I don’t know what they are supposed to do. As I said, Barcelona deserved an equaliser, but that was not a penalty.”
