The Serie A side never quite recovered after conceding two goals through Jordi Alba and Frenkie de Jong inside the opening 13 minutes.
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Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti felt his side “made far too many mistakes” in the 4-2 loss to Barcelona in the Europa League play-off second leg tie at Diego Maradona Stadium on Thursday. The Catalan club secured a 5-3 aggregate victory to go through to the last-16 of the competition. The Serie A side never quite recovered after conceding two goals inside the opening 13 minutes. The first one was a quick counter-attack after Insigne’s poor corner-kick, which Jordi Alba finished of expertly, and then, Frenkie de Jong doubled the lead with a brilliant right-foot curler from outside the box, which ended up at the far top corner.
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“We have to be honest, they made far fewer mistakes than we did in possession. We made more mistakes than we are accustomed to, but Barcelona did really well in moving the ball around,” Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.
“They were also aided by the initial incident on the corner, then De Jong curling it into the top corner, which made it all more difficult.
Although Napoli pulled one back on 23 minutes courtesy of a penalty kick which Insigne converted, the visitors restored the two goal lead when Gerard Pique slotted home after Napoli failed to properly clear a corner kick.
“When we got back into it after the penalty and were in our best period of the game, we conceded the third out of nowhere.
“It’s very disappointing, because we had a real Napoli atmosphere tonight, we worked so hard for everyone to be back here together again and it leaves us doubly disappointed. Perhaps it’s even more disappointing than the result.
“We also did some things well, but were unable to get the game back on level terms, because every time we got close to them, they’d knock us back down with a KO.”
Barcelona pressed higher up the pitch and Napoli couldn’t handle the pressure. And, the Barca attackers were too hot for the home side’s defence to handle, Adama Traore’s pace and physicality played a pivotal role in the opening goal and he was impressive down the right flank.
The Spanish winger assisted Barca’s fourth goal, which was scored by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
“I am always the first person responsible when the team doesn’t have the right attitude.
“Perhaps in those moments we tried to play it out from the back forcefully, but instead we didn’t find the right passes in the final third and they were very aggressive, especially down the right.
“This high press blocked our exits and after those goals, Barcelona could carry on secure in their status. We made far too many mistakes and Barcelona were having a great night. When you go one-on-one with Barcelona, they will always find the right pass.”
