The ex-Man City man scored Barca’s equaliser
Ferran Torres cut an emotional figure at full-time of Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Napoli in the Europa League on Thursday, despite scoring in the match.
Piotr Zieliński opened the scoring for the away side in the 29th minute, but January signing Torres levelled proceedings with a penalty after Napoli defender Juan Jesus handled Adama Traore’s attempted cross.
Barcelona looked the most likely the grab a winner late on, but the points were shared in the Europa League round of 32 first leg tie.
Despite scoring his second goal for the Blaugrana, the former Manchester City man was visibly distraught at the final whistle and had to be consoled by his teammates.
Ferran Torres after Barcelona’s 1-1 #UEL draw against Napoli this evening 💔
The forward had a golden chance to win the game late on… pic.twitter.com/kQrBZLl8rk
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 17, 2022
Torres was seen with his head in his hands before wiping his eyes with his shirt, which itself caused controversy as it didn’t feature the Nike logo or the Barcelona badge.
The Spaniard missed a couple of good chances in the tie, most notably in the final few minutes. The 21-year-old clearly thought that he had let his team down.
However, manager Xavi was keen to defend the attacker and compared his situation to Luis Suarez’s early struggles at the Camp Nou.
“It happened to Luis Suarez, who seemed to have no goals,” Xavi said post-match, as per Goal.
“The Barca shirt weighs a few kilos more. But I am delighted to have him in the team and he will give me a lot of joy.
“If he is in the penalty area it is because he will score. He has scored goals all his life and he will have them.
“In training he is one of those who scores the most. He has our absolute trust. The coaching staff and I will take care of this. He is very strong, self-demanding.”
Former Barcelona captain Carles Puyol also voiced his support for Torres, tweeting that the player “will give us a lot of joy”.
@FerranTorres20 nos dará muchas alegrías. Visca el Barça. 💙❤️
— Carles Puyol (@Carles5puyol) February 17, 2022
Xavi’s men return to league action at the weekend when they face-off against Torres’ former side Valencia, before travelling to Naples for the second leg on February 24.
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