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Barcelona forward Ferran Torres was left devastated after missing a hatful of chances in his team’s 1-1 Europa League play-off first leg clash with Napoli at the Camp Nou on Thursday, February 17.
Torres equalized for the Catalan giants from the penalty spot on the hour mark, after Piotr Zielinski had given the visitors the lead, but had three chances to win the game and managed to miss them all.
The January signing could not hide his despair at the final whistle and looked incredibly emotional out on the pitch as the two teams shook hands after the 90 minutes at the Camp Nou, as shown by CBS Sports.
The draw is a better result for Napoli who will have home advantage for the second leg in a week’s time at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples. The winners of the tie will progress to the last 16 of the competition.
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Puyol Backs Ferran Torres
Barcelona legend Carles Puyol was quick to back Torres after the game. The former captain took to social media with a message of support. He wrote, “Ferran Torres
will give us much happiness. Visca Barca.”
Torres moved to Barcelona in the January transfer window from Manchester City on a five-year deal with a buyout clause set at 1 billion euros. The 21-year-old has made six appearances so far for the Catalans, scoring twice and picking up two assists.
There’s no doubt it was a tough night for the forward. He was also spotted wearing a Barcelona shirt that was missing the club badge and the Nike logo, as shown below.
Xavi Confident Goals Will Come
Barcelona coach Xavi spoke about Torres after the game and insisted he is confident the goals will come for the Spain international. The boss told reporters that patience is needed with the January arrival.
“He’s ultra demanding with himself but even though he had lots of opportunities and only one goal I know that the chances will begin to go in and I’ll emphasise this to him,” he said. “One goal wasn’t enough for the football we produced. We needed to be more effective. Now we must go to Napoli and win, basically by playing the same type of match but scoring when we get the chance.”
Center-back Gerard Pique was also feeling confident about his team’s chances despite seeing Barca held to a draw. The 35-year-old admitted after the game that the hosts should have won by some distance.
“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,” he said. “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.”
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