UEL: Barcelona rescue a draw

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Barcelona 1 - 1 Napoli

Former Manchester City player Ferran Torres scored a penalty as Barcelona rescued a draw in their Europa League last-32 first-leg tie against Napoli.

Barca were making their first appearance in this competition in almost 18 years and they fell behind in the first half when Piotr Zielinski drove in.

UCL: Barcelona knocked out

But they awarded a penalty in the second half by VAR after Adama Traore's cross hit Juan Jesus' hand.

Torres stepped up to take the penalty and sent goalkeeper Alex Meret the wrong way. This will have been of significant relief for the striker after he had missed a big chance when the game was goalless, firing over when well placed inside the box.

Torres had a good opportunity to win the game for Barcelona late on, but sent his shot over the bar.

Ex-Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had a quiet game as he made his first start for Barcelona. This was his first competitive start since 2 December.

The two sides will meet again in Italy for the second leg on Thursday, 24 February. You can watch the highlights from the first-leg in the video below. Footage courtesy of BT Sport.

Reaction

The Barcelona manager was happy with some aspects of his team's performance, including the debut of Aubameyang: "Perhaps he struggled a bit to link up with his team-mates. He is a player with a very good physical capacity. He has tried, his pressing was intense, which we have missed."

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