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Xavi (Reuters)
After the 1: 4 over Valencia, Barcelona returns to the Europa League. The Catalans will host Napoli tomorrow (Thursday, 22:00) in the playoffs, a week after the 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou – and they hope that their European season will not end as early as February. Just before leaving for Italy, Xavi’s squad was announced. In addition, the coach shared his feelings ahead of the game at the press conference.
Xavi He opened and referred to the previous game: “We would have achieved the same thing even if we had won 1: 2 or 1: 3. We need to control. Napoli will put pressure on us and it will be a very intense game. There will be a football war. Whoever holds the ball will have a higher chance of winning. The fans will be intense. We will have to be brave and create opportunities. We are moving forward, but we will have a tough test. We are excited and full of hope. “
The former player also commented on the rival and goals of his team: “Napoli is at the level of the Champions League, but this is a good opportunity to prove that we can cope at this level as well. They will push us high and it will be difficult, but if we do not qualify it will be a disappointment. “
On another issue, Gerard Pique, who was serving a suspension, is of course set to return directly to Barça’s squad after Eric Garcia took his place against Valencia. Injured Memphis DePay will continue to be absent, as will Anso Patti, Sergi Roberto, Samuel Omititi and Kalman Langela. Danny Alves will also miss this game because he is not registered in the squad for the Europa League and so did Abda and Fran Jotgla.
According to estimates, Xavi plans to start with the same attacking trio from the game against Valencia: Pierre-Emerick Obmiang who scored a hat-trick, Fran Torres and Osman Dembele. The big question will be who will open the link when Barça coach has no small selection: Sergio Busquets, Frankie de Jong, Gabby and Pedry, among others. Remember, the latter only came in as a substitute in the diversion and after three minutes his kick hit Obmiang’s back and led to a goal that was recorded to the striker’s credit and set the final score.
