Champions League

[monks data]

Attendance: 44,388

Champions League | Round of 16

Feb 25, 2020 at 8pm UK

Napoli
1-1
Barcelona

Mertens (30')

FT(HT: 1-0)

Griezmann (57')

Quique Setien admits Barcelona players still haunted by Roma, Liverpool defeats

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 25 February 2020

Setien admits Barca players still haunted by Liverpool defeat

Barcelona manager Quique Setien reveals that his side's previous two exits in the Champions League still linger in the minds of his players ahead of the Napoli clash.

Barcelona manager Quique Setien has admitted his side remain haunted by the manner of their Champions League exits in the past two seasons.

La Blaugrana suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Roma in 2017-18 after taking a 4-1 lead into the second leg, with Kostas Manolas's header seeing Barca bow out on away goals.

Last season saw the Catalan giants exit in similar circumstances after Liverpool produced a storming comeback from a 3-0 first-leg defeat to win 4-0 at Anfield, with Jurgen Klopp's side eventually going on to win the competition.

Looking ahead to the first leg of their last-16 tie with Napoli, Setien acknowledged that these defeats still linger in the minds of his players.

"The reality is that we've spoken very little about [the Roma and Liverpool defeats], although I'm sure they'll have it in their minds," Setien told reporters.

"Maybe it's not comparable. We've experienced incredibly tough games and I think the team is fine. The team is confident that we'll continue in this dynamic, I trust that we'll maintain the level that we've been giving for some time."

Barcelona's 5-0 drubbing of Eibar at the weekend saw them overtake Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, with Lionel Messi scoring four of Barca's five goals.