"The only disappointing thing about the match was the scoreline" - Gerard Pique feels Barcelona could have easily beaten Napoli in Europa League
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique was left disappointed after only securing a 1-1 draw against Napoli in the first leg of their Europa League knockout clash.
Regardless of the result, the 35-year-old defender remains positive about their chances of winning the entire tournament. Speaking after their 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp, Pique said:
“The sensations are that we could easily have won 3-1, 4-1 even 5-1. The only disappointing thing about the match was the scoreline. Playing at this level is good enough to go on and win the Europa League but we really wanted a good lead to take to Naples.”
Barcelona were the better side on Thursday night despite them not securing a win against Napoli. The Catalan giants had 21 shots in the entire game. However, they were quite wasteful with their chances, with only five of them being on target. They even had 67% of the possession in the game.
Napoli, on the other hand, only had four shots in the entirety of 90 minutes. However, the visitors took the lead through Piotr Zielinski on the 29th-minute mark.
Blaugrana equalized in the second-half after new January signing Ferran Torres scored from the penalty spot on the hour mark.
🎙️| #BarçaNapoli | Piqué: “We could have won 3-1, 4-1 or 5-1. Once they got there and scored, we missed a lot of chances. The feeling is good.” #fcblive #UEL https://t.co/TJZoUfK5IG
Xavi Hernandez's side will need to be more clinical in front of goal if they wish to progress through to the next round of the Europa League. The second leg of the tie will now be played in Naples on the 24th of February.
It is worth mentioning that this is the first time Barcelona are competing in the Europa League since the 2003-04 season. Back then, the tournament was named the UEFA Cup.
The Blaugrana finished third in their Champions League group which resulted in them dropping down to play in the Europa League this season.
Barcelona travel to face Valencia in La Liga at the weekend
Barcelona will now shift their attention back to La Liga when they travel to Valencia on Sunday. The Catalan giants secured a hard-fought 2-2 draw against city-rivals Espanyol in their last league outing.
Valencia, meanwhile, are having a poor season and are currently 12th in the La Liga standings. Los Murcielagos are currently on a six-game winless run in the league.
Valencia CF fine-tune preparations ahead of their upcoming @LaLigaEN meeting
#ValenciaBarça🔜
#VCFDNA🦇 https://t.co/wmMz4piiJj
Despite dropping two points, Xavi's side are still fourth in the La Liga standings, having accumulated 39 points from 23 matches. They are currently just four points behind third-placed Real Betis with a game in hand.