Europa League Results: Ferran Torres Penalty Saves Barcelona From Defeat Against Napoli

Ferran Torres (Twitter @fcbarcelona)

JAKARTA - Ferran Torres' penalty saved Barcelona from defeat as they drew 1-1 with Napoli in their Europa League first leg at Camp Nou on Friday.

As reported by Antara, Napoli took the lead through Piotr Zielinski's goal before Barca equalized through a Ferran Torres penalty.

Barca had direct control of the ball from the start and wasted no time in threatening Napoli.

In the 4th minute, Barcelona created the first opportunity. Aubameyang snatched the ball down the left in Napoli territory and passed the ball to Pedri in front of the penalty box. However, the young Spanish midfielder's kick still bounced high from Alex Meret's goal.

The hosts kept possession of the ball, but couldn't find any gaps in the Napoli defense to create chances.

Barca gets a chance in the 14th minute. Jordi Alba provides a cross into the penalty box. The ball hit several players and was received by Nico Gonzales who dribbled before releasing a shot from a tight angle. However, Meret made a good save to prevent his goal from conceding.

Three minutes later, Aubameyang made an experiment from outside the penalty box. Unfortunately, the ball still deviated to the right against Napoli.

Full Time #BarçaNapoli pic.twitter.com/Atqk0XktVI

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 17, 2022

Napoli got the first golden opportunity in the 21st minute through Osimhen's kick after continuing the counter-attack scheme. Ter-Stegen was able to anticipate and block the ball until it ended in a corner kick.

In the 27th minute, Barcelona had a chance to score. Aubameyang provided a pass to Torres who was not guarded in the penalty box, but his shot was just off the mark.

Two minutes later, Napoli actually opened the scoring first. Zielinski gets feedback from Elmas in the penalty box. The Polish forward fired a shot that was parried by Ter-Stegen, but he grabbed the rebound again to make it 1-0 for Napoli.

In injury time, Barca had a chance to equalize. However, Torres' header in the penalty box could not convert it into a goal and the first half ended with the score of 1-0 for Napoli.

After the break, Barca immediately locked Napoli and tried to score a quick equalizer. In the 54th minute, Aubameyang dribbled from the left to the center and fired a shot that was still high.

Two minutes later the home side had their best chance of scoring after the referee awarded a penalty after Adama's cross hit Juan Jesus' hand.

Torres stepped forward as executor and he managed to trick Alex Meret. The position is 1-1.

Aubameyang again threatened with a long-range shot in the 62nd minute. Unfortunately, it's still not on target.

Napoli continued to be pressed in the last 10 minutes of the match. However, Barcelona still could not use it to score the winning goal.

In the 88th minute, Ousmane Dembele went past the Napoli defenders and sent the ball to Pedri and it was deflected straight to Torres with a backheel. Unfortunately, Torres' finishing was poor and sent the ball flying over the goal.

Barcelona still created a number of golden opportunities in injury time, but continued to fail to turn it into a goal. So is Naples. In the end, the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Line-up: Barcelona (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Oscar Mingueza (Sergino Dest 81'), Gerard Pique, Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba; Frenkie de Jong (Sergio Busquets 65'), Nico Gonzalez (Gavi 65'), Pedri; Adama Traore (Ousmane Dembele 65'), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Luuk De Jong 86'), Ferran Torres.

Napoli (4-2-3-1): Alex Meret; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Kalidou Koulibaly, Amir Rrahmani, Juan Jesus; Fabian Ruiz, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Kevin Malcuit 84'); Eljif Elmas (Mario Rui 85'), Piotr Zielinski (Diego Demme 80'), Lorenzo Insigne (Adam Ounas 72'); Victor Osimhen (Dries Mertens 80').