All Barc, no bite
Xavi rues missed chances in stalemate against Napoli
“The result should be a victory and, being fair, by at least a couple of goals.” Xavi Hernandez
BARCELONA: Xavi Hernandez was left to rue his Barcelona side’s failure to convert chances as the Spanish giants were held to a 1-1 draw by Napoli in the first leg of their Europa League knockout stage playoff tie.
Piotr Zielinski gave Napoli the lead in the 29th minute before Barcelona forward Ferran Torres equalised in the 59th minute from the penalty spot.
Barcelona were on the front foot throughout with their new attacking trio formed by fresh signings Torres, Adama Traore and Pierreemerick Aubameyang, but the Catalan side missed several chances to turn the match around.
“I’m sad because it makes me angry that (Barcelona) missed so many (chances) because it’s a game to, at least win,” Xavi said.
“I think that the only thing that we lacked was to convert the chances. We were good in the high press. After going behind, we generated 20 chances and six or seven were very clear.
“(It was) a complete game. The result should be a victory and, being fair, by at least a couple of goals. We played well, but we’re competing in the Europa League. This isn’t about feelings, it’s about results, and the game was excellent.”
Barcelona travel to Italy for the second leg on Feb. 24.
“They got into our area once or twice and they scored a goal, we had a lot of chances,” said skipper Gerard Pique.
“The feeling is good, the result not so much. Everything remains open. It was a great match against a high-level opponent.
“The result is not satisfactory, we would have liked to have had a bigger advantage for the return match.”
Barcelona are playing the Europa League for the first time in 18 years after crashing out of the Champions League in the group stage.
Elsewhere, Real Betis defeated 3-2 Zenit St Petersburg after scoring twice in the first 20 minutes through Guido Rodriguez and Willian Jose.
But the Russians fought back to equalise with two goals in three minutes scored by Artem Dzyuba and Malcom.
Veteran midfielder Andres Guardado found the winner for Betis right before halftime, as the La Liga side held on to hand Zenit their first home loss since October 2021.