Barcelona just about manage a draw against Napoli and Rangers thrash Dortmund

(Football news) Barcelona came from behind to scrap a 1-1 draw against Napoli as it sets up an exciting second leg in Naples. Barca dominated possession for the majority of the first half and had several good chances to take the lead but it was Napoli who scored first when Piotr Zielinski smashed the rebound from his own shot into the roof of the net following a very swift counter-attack. Although Barca drew level before the hour mark when VAR intervened and gave them a penalty when Napoli's Juan Jesus handled an Adama Traore cross in the area and Ferran Torres dispatched his spot kick coolly to make it 1-1. Barca were on the ascendancy after drawing level as their brand new attacking trident formed of Torres, Traore and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed several golden opportunities to take the lead. The two teams will meet again in Naples on Feb. 24 for the decisive second leg.

"Only thing missing was taking our chances, good pressing, good after losing the ball, we created 20-plus chances, six or seven very clear. I am sad to have missed so many. The same happened to Luis Suarez [while at Barcelona] … he struggled to score goals in his first few months here. Ferran has a lot of personality and showed that to take the penalty. [Torres] was good: how he got in the position for the chances, his pressing … an example for the team. Delighted to have him, and no doubt the goals will go in." Xavi said after Ferran Torres missed plenty of clear cut chances.

Rangers produced one of the performances of the season when they thrashed Dortmund 4-2 at Signal Iduna Park to take complete command of their Europa League knockout stage playoff tie. In the first half, a penalty from James Tavernier put the reigning Scottish Champions ahead in the 38th minute after coolly slotting in the penalty before Alfredo Morelos doubled their advantage in the 41st, when he tapped in from close range following a well-worked corner routine and also sloppy defending on Dortmund’s part made 2-0 before half time. In the second half, Rangers increased their lead as John Lundstram shot from outside the box put the visitors in dreamland in the 49th minute. For Dortmund, Jude Bellingham pulled a goal back in the 51st minute to give some hope to the 10,000 fans that had come to watch the match.

Rangers took no time to respond back as they restored parity with a three-goal advantage in the 54th minute when Dortmund defender Dan-Axel Zagadou deflected a strike from Morelos which beat the helpless Gregor Kobel. Dortmund salvaged some hope for the second leg at Ibrox when Raphael Guerreiro scored in the 82nd minute with a piledriver of a shot. Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side made the most of the reduced home crowd and Erling Haaland not playing but with a two goal advantage going to Glasgow, the Scottish giants will feel confident to reach the next round.

Rose said: “Of course this situation is difficult. We lost with a difference of two goals. There’s no away goals anymore so that might be a little help. But to score two goals at Ibrox with 50000 fans is quite a task. Today we didn’t accomplish our task. It will be difficult but nonetheless we’ll prepare for this match so we can still keep our chances.In general I feel I can reach the guys. We talk in the meetings and I see them nodding their heads when we discuss things. When we talk about certain plays, I see that they are understood. But the challenge is to put it out on the pitch and that’s my responsibility. Today there were two set-pieces. There was Dan-Axel’s handball and another disappointment at the second corner.”

Rose added by saying “A simple mistake out on the wing led to the third goal and before the fourth goal there was another easy loss of possession. These are all the little details that have put us in this bad direction. But we didn’t do enough to take it in our direction. Well if I did [know why there was a lack of effort], I’d march into the locker room and talk to the team.Today we weren’t aggressive enough. We didn’t run enough. There wasn’t enough movement and that allowed Rangers to conquer enough balls. We did manage to get our supporters behind us. If we only started playing how we should for 90 minutes in the final 15, that’s far too late."

Also read: Liverpool rally past Inter to take a 2 goal advantage to Anfield

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