Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández felt his side lacked maturity as the Spanish champions were held to a “bittersweet” 1-1 draw by Napoli at the Stadio Maradona on Wednesday in the Champions League round-of-16.
Robert Lewandowski gave Barça the lead on the hour mark, but Victor Osimhen‘s 75th-minute equaliser for the Italian champions ensured the teams will go into the second leg in March all square.
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“It is a bittersweet feeling because we had the game in our hands,” Xavi said in his post-game news conference. “We played well. We defended well; Napoli didn’t create much, but in the moment [after taking the lead] we lacked control when we needed to dominate, show personality and be aggressive.
“It’s a shame. It was a good performance in general and I am proud of the image we have shown Europe. This is the Barça we want, but we lacked maturity to [manage the game].
“Maybe physically they were stronger than us in individual duels, but playing this way we have good chance of going through and will win more than we lose.”
In Barça’s first Champions League knockout game since 2021, Lewandowski extended his good run of form to open the scoring in the second half, finishing clinically after receiving the ball from Pedri.
