Europa League: Napoli Boss Spalletti Rues Barcelona Defeat

Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti admitted that Barcelona deserved their victory in Thursday night’s Europa League playoff.

The Blaugurana defeated their hosts 4-2 at the Diego Armando Maradona to win the contest 5-3 on aggregate.

“We have to be honest, they made far fewer mistakes than we did in possession. We made more mistakes than we are accustomed to, but Barcelona did really well in moving the ball around,” Spalletti told Sky Italia.

“They were also aided by the initial incident on the corner, then De Jong curling it into the top corner, which made it all more difficult.

“When we got back into it after the penalty and were in our best period of the game, we conceded the third out of nowhere.

“It’s very disappointing, because we had a real Napoli atmosphere tonight, we worked so hard for everyone to be back here together again and it leaves us doubly disappointed. Perhaps it’s even more disappointing than the result.

“We also did some things well, but were unable to get the game back on level terms, because every time we got close to them, they’d knock us back down with a KO.”

Spalletti also said: “I am always the first person responsible when the team doesn’t have the right attitude.

“Perhaps in those moments we tried to play it out from the back forcefully, but instead we didn’t find the right passes in the final third and they were very aggressive, especially down the right.

“This high press blocked our exits and after those goals, Barcelona could carry on secure in their status.”