After being knocked out of the Champions League, Barcelona now face a difficult task to qualify for the Round of 16 in the Europa League.
After being knocked out of the Champions League, Barcelona now face a difficult task to qualify for the Round of 16 in the Europa League.
After being knocked out of the Champions League, Barcelona now face a difficult task to qualify for the Round of 16 in the Europa League.
In their first appearance in second-tier European competition in nearly two decades, the Catalan club was hosted by Napoli in the first leg of one of eight playoffs between third-place finishers in the Champions League at the Camp Nou Stadium on Thursday. group and Europa League group runners-up.
It is the first time since 2003–04 that Barcelona have not been in the knockout stage of the Champions League, a tournament it has won five times.
In other matchups, Scottish club Rangers beat Borussia Dortmund 4–2, Real Betis 3–2 at Zenit St Petersburg and Sheriff beat Braga 1–0.
In the playoff matches to reach the last 16 of the inaugural Europa Conference League, PSV Eindhoven, Rapid Vienna, Midtjeland and Slavia Prague won the opening stage.
The second leg games in both the competitions are to be held on February 24.
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Ferran Torres saved the draw for Barcelona in the 59th minute by converting a penalty for a handball from Juan Jesus. The forward calmly dispatched goalkeeper Alex Meret in the opposite direction from the spot.
Barcelona dominated the remaining 30 minutes but found no winner.
Napoli retaliated after Torres missed a net opportunity for Barcelona. At the other end, Eljif Elmas set up Piotr Zieliński for the opener in the 29th. Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen saved his first low attempt but the Polish midfielder hit a counterattack on the roof of the net.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made his debut for Barcelona following his move from Arsenal, but was suppressed by a well-organized Napoli defence.
At Dortmund, James Tavernier gave Rangers the lead in the 38th by sending the goalkeeper wrong from the spot, when a video review confirmed the ball had hit Dan-Axel Zagadou. Alfredo Morelos doubled the advantage for the visitors after only three minutes.
Dortmund improved in the second half but Rangers were firmly in charge. John Lundstram’s long drive extended the lead to 3-0 before England midfielder Judd Bellingham gave the hosts some hope. Zagadou appeared to have extinguished his goal after scoring, although Rafael Guerreiro’s long-range strike time of eight minutes meant Dortmund could still have a chance.
Dortmund’s American midfielder Gio Reyna came in as a substitute after halftime to play only his second match since returning from a five-month layoff due to a hamstring injury. The 19-year-old Reyna was named after Giovanni van Bronkhorst, the current coach of Rangers at the Scottish club from 1999–2001 and his father, Claudio Reyna’s teammate.
In St Petersburg, Betis looked ruthless in the opening 20 minutes. Guido Rodriguez entered the top corner of the net to put Spain ahead in eight minutes. Ten minutes later, forward Willian Jose doubled the advantage after a single attempt.
Zeenat returned again as Artem Dziuba cut the deficit for Zeenat in the 25th minute, and Malcolm equalized a further three minutes later. Still in the first half, Andrés Guardado restored the lead for Betis, who took advantage of a defensive mistake.
After Sheriff’s impressive Champions League debut, which included a 2–1 win over Real Madrid, the champions of Moldova began their Europa League campaign with a home win over Braga in Tiraspol.
Sebastian Thiel made it late in the first half and Adama Traore added a second in a counterattack in the 83rd as the visitors pushed for an equalizer.
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Forward Kodi Gakpo scored in the 11th minute as PSV beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv 1-0.
Defender Joel Andersen scored in the club’s first game since the winter break to give Midjylland a 1–0 win over PAOK.
Rapid Vienna beat Vitesse 2-1 following goals from forward Ferdi Druiseff and midfielder Marco Grul. When Filip Stojkovic received his second yellow card in 20 minutes in the second half, Vienna were down to 10 men, and the visitors pulled one back with a goal from Los Openda.
Slavia defeated Fenerbas 3–1 in Istanbul when Murphy Dorley and Ondrej Lingr both scored in the second half in the space of two minutes.
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