With strength in the face, Barca exceeded expectations and beat Napoli by a big score to reach the Europa League round of 16
This week's Champions League is all over, and after the Champions League, the Europa League competition officially begins. On the first Europa League matchday, there were heavyweight matches. The second leg of the Europa League knockout play-off ushered in a strong match between Barca and Napoli. The showdown between the two teams is a Champions League-level match according to their previous strength, but because of the decline in the competitive strength of the two teams this season, both teams have participated in this season's Europa League matches. The first leg of the europa league knockout play-off between the two sides took place at Barcelona's home camp nou when the two sides drew 1-1. After the first leg, many people are not optimistic about Barca's prospects, believing that Barca's Europa League road will also end, because the first leg failed to win the opponent at home, and the second leg went to the away, and the psychological pressure increased. Secondly, Napoli, which plays at home, has a lot of experience against Spanish teams, according to statistics, the first 10 European away games of Spanish teams have challenged Napoli, only 1 victory, according to past data, Barca want to qualify is extremely difficult. However, in the case of people not optimistic, Barca's strength hit the face, and after the big score of victory over Napoli, they advanced to the Europa League round of 16.
The game to the away game did not tie hands, but took the initiative to attack, hitting Napoli by surprise. In the 8th minute of the game, Barca took advantage of a counter-attack opportunity, and Alba took the lead for Barca.
Alba scored
Just five minutes later, De Jong scored a beautiful shot from outside the box to help Barca extend the scoreline. In the 22nd minute, Insigne took advantage of a penalty to help Napoli pull back a city. In the 45th minute, Pique scored a goal from inside the penalty area, and Barca made it 3-1 Napoli.
Pique
In the 59th minute, Aubameyang scored with a shot that Barca had already scored four goals away from home. In the 87th minute, Politano scored a goal for Napoli. In the end, the score was fixed at Napoli 2-4 Barca, Barca beat Napoli away from home, eliminating Napoli with an aggregate score of 5-3 and entering the Europa League round of 16. Barca's ability to go from being unoptimized before the game to beating the strong rival Napoli by a big score can be described as a strength that has hit some spectators' faces.
Barca qualified
The winter window reinforcements are the right medicine, and the new signing forward has already participated in 17 goals
After losing Messi this season, Barca's strength dropped by one level, after losing Messi, and then lost Griezmann, the loss of stars made Barca's attack decline in the early stage of this season serious, coupled with serious injuries, Barca's attacking efficiency in the first half of the season was inefficient, it can be described as few goals and low goal quality, it is completely Depay alone carrying the team forward. In view of the decline in attacking power, Barca made targeted reinforcements in the winter window, bringing in three strikers from the Premier League, namely Ferran Torres, Aubameyang and Adama Traore. After the arrival of these three new signings at Barca, they quickly came in handy, improving barca's weak attack. In this game, Aubameyang scored 1 goal, Adama Traoré delivered 2 assists, Ferran Torres sent 1 assist, all 4 goals were involved in new signings, plus this game, Barca's winter window new signings have participated in Barca's 14 goals:
Ferran Torres: 2 goals and 3 assists in 8 games
Aubameyang: Scored 4 goals in 5 games
Adama Terraore: 4 assists in 5 games
Alves: 1 goal and 3 assists in 5 games
In the case of Fati injured, Depay injured, Bryce Witt injured, Dembele sometimes short-circuited, Barca made targeted reinforcements in time, the offensive efficiency improved significantly, and these transfer operations in the Barca winter window are worthy of praise.
Aubameyang
The return of the Premier League king to Barca ushered in an explosion, doubling efficiency, surpassing the previous 71 Premier League games in 4 games
Among the 4 reinforcements in the winter window, there is a player worth paying attention to, he is Adama Terraore, he is from The La Masia youth training in Barcelona, leaving Barca for the Premier League at a young age, with his thickness, body, and dribbling ability, he has become the king of the Premier League. But in the Career of Wolves, Adama Traoré seems to have nothing but superiority, so that after Barca introduced him, many people were not optimistic about Traoré's prospects at Barca, believing that Adama Traoré would only pass, would not pass, would not shoot, and would not come to Barca to do much. However, in the more than a month since returning to Barcelona, Terraore has already punched in the face of those who question him with his own performance.
In this game, the starting Adama Traoré delivered 2 assists, and in the 4 games that came to Barca's starting appearance, Adama Traore has delivered 4 assists, which is equivalent to the total number of assists in the last 71 games for Wolves, so that Adama Traore's assist efficiency has increased by more than 17 times, which is a huge improvement.
Adama Traoré
Why is Adama Terraore's offensive stats doubling? There are the following reasons. First, from the Barca youth training, it can be quickly integrated into the team's offensive philosophy. Second, the La Liga style is soft and slow, and the strong and fast Adama Traoré can play to his strengths. Third, Barca's overall strength is stronger than Wolves, so after Adama Terraore created opportunities, Barca players can seize more opportunities to score the ball, in other words, it is not that Adama Traore brought little offensive help, but that there were not many people who could seize the opportunity in Wolves before.
Conclusion: Barca's attack has improved, and the defense needs urgent attention
In the few games after the reinforcements, Barca's attack has improved significantly, but it is also necessary to find that Barça's defense is a big problem, conceding goals in almost every game. As the saying goes: attack wins the scene, defense wins the championship, Barca want to achieve results, but also pay attention to defense.