A 59th-minute penalty from former Man City striker, Ferran Torres, saved Barcelona from a home defeat from Serie A club, Napoli
By Kehinde Okeowo
La Liga giant, Barcelona rescued a draw from Serie A side Napoli in the last 32 first leg tie of Europa League played at the Nou Camp on Thursday night.
It was an uncharted territory for the Spanish side, who were making their first appearance in the Europa League in almost 18 years, after failing to get out of their group in the Champions League.
Piotr Zielinski opened the scoring for the visitors in the 29th minute after driving into the Barcelona penalty box to give Napoli a 1-0 lead.
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But Barcelona equalised when Ferran Torres stepped up in the 57th minutes
to send goalkeeper Alex Meret the wrong way after they were awarded a penalty.
The spot-kick was given in the second half after VAR review confirmed Adama Traore’s cross hit Juan Jesus’ hand.
Before scoring the spot-kick however, Ferran Torres had missed a big chance to put Barcelona ahead, firing over the bar when well placed inside the box.
The 21-year-old striker also had a good opportunity to win the game for Barcelona late on but sent his shot over the bar once again.
The two sides will meet again in Italy for the second leg on Thursday, 24 February, and the winner of the encounter will progress into the rounds of 16.
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