Barcelona boss Xavi 'sad and angry' after 1-1 draw with Napoli in Europa League play-off first leg
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Published 18/02/2022 at 13:04 GMT
Barcelona boss Xavi admitted his frustration at seeing his team fail to emerge with a win from their Europa League play-off first leg match against Napoli. The 42-year-old believes his team are on the right path to success after a torrid few years, but that they can't afford to treat matches "like friendlies". The two sides play their second leg in Naples next Thursday.
Xavi was frustrated not to take the win from his side's first-leg match with Napoli in the Europa League.
Image credit: Getty Images
Xavi Hernandez demanded that his side give him more following their 1-1 draw with Napoli in the Europa League.
The Barcelona boss saw his men put in a largely positive display against their Italian opponents, but weren't able to take the lead in the tie despite having enough sights of goal.
It leaves the play-off knockout tie evenly balanced ahead of the second leg at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
"I'm sad and angry," Xavi said afterwards.
"It was a match that was there to be won. Looking at the chances, our domination and the overall game, we should've won. It's a shame. But in terms of my feelings, I am very happy.
"The only thing we lacked was putting our chances away. Otherwise we played a good match.
"The feelings are good, but the result wasn't good enough. With everything we created, the minimum we expected was to come away with the win. The minimum.
"We're on a good path, but these aren't friendly matches anymore, this is the Europa League."
Piotr Zielinski had given Napoli the lead at the Camp Nou in the first half, before Ferran Torres equalised from the penalty spot just before the hour.
It's clear that Xavi is making progress with his team, but there have been more downs than ups in their overall trajectory of late, with cup exits to Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey respectively, and a disappointing draw with local rivals Espanyol in La Liga.
Xavi takes his team to Valencia on Sunday in another crucial fixture for the Blaugrana's top-four hopes.
On the eve of Thursday's Napoli tie, Xavi had said that would be their chief focus for the rest of the season.
The four-time Champions League winner said: "Of course, we would like to be in the Champions League. It hurts that we’re not there. Hearing the Champions League music on television [on Tuesday] made me angry.
"Our main aim is to get back in the Champions League next season, and there are two ways to do that: finish in the top four in La Liga or win the Europa League."
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