Barcelona made their Europa League debut on Thursday evening with a draw against Napoli. Xavi’s team fought back strongly from a deficit that was put on the scoreboard in the first half by Piotr Zielinski. For that, the Catalans needed an easily given penalty, shot in by Ferran Torres: 1-1. In the final phase, things started to go even better at Barca, which had bad luck in the finish and kept Napoli alive. Luuk de Jong impressed with another spectacular bicycle kick, but that too missed direction.
Xavi chose to let Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang make his debut in the starting lineup. Gerard Piqué and Eric García formed the central duo in the back due to the many absentees. Frenkie de Jong started in midfield, while Sergio Busquets, Sergiño Dest and Luuk de Jong only came on as substitutes in the second half. At Napoli, Dries Mertens also had to do it with a substitute in the second half.
Luuk de Jong almost scores the winning goal with this bicycle kick ??#BARNAP pic.twitter.com/iI6Pq0Ghe2
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) February 17, 2022
Barcelona had most of the ball, but Napoli created the first danger from a counterattack. The launched Victor Osimhen hit the feet of Marc-André ter Stegen. After half an hour of play, Ferran Torres was released right in front of the goal by Aubameyang. Ferran’s shot missed all direction, however. In the ensuing swift counter-attack, Napoli struck. Zielinski needed two attempts at close range, after the first bang came back to him through Ter Stegen’s feet. Zielinkski then scored the rebound wonderfully: 0-1.
The game was no different in the second half and Barça kept looking for openings. That was difficult, but the Catalans received help from the VAR after an hour of play, when a cross from Adama Traoré came very lightly against Juan Jesus. Ferran knew what to do with the penalty that followed: 1-1. Remarkable after that was the substitute of Ousmane Dembélé, who initially could count on a whistle concert from the own Barça fans at every contact with the ball. The Frenchman managed to stop the whistle with some very dangerous dribbles. One of these provided a huge opportunity for Ferran, who mowed wildly. Luuk de Jong came in shortly before time and came close to a new hero role with a beautiful bicycle kick, but saw the ball go just wide.