Barcelona’s nearest LaLiga rivals — Real Betis, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal, Real Sociedad and their next opponents at Camp Nou, Athletic Club — will be roaring Xavi’s team on to victory in Naples on Thursday.
The Europa League, which they are in danger of exiting after only managing a 1-1 draw with Napoli in the first leg of their playoff to reach the knockout phase, isn’t merely Barcelona’s last opportunity of a trophy this season — it’s also a route into the fabulous wealth of next season’s Champions League. That’s pretty important when your debt is piled as high as theirs.
There’s a brilliant battle for the top four in Spain right now, with fourth and eighth separated by just five points, so if Napoli send Barcelona into the ignominy of exiting European competition by late February, the Camp Nou side will obviously need to fight tooth and nail for the remainder of the domestic season if they want a top-four slot. That would mean extra menace for Betis, Atleti, Villarreal, Real Sociedad and Athletic (stream LIVE Sunday at 2:50 p.m. ET on ESPN+ in the U.S.). If Barcelona pull off a big result, though, there will arguably be a distraction to their domestic efforts: more matches, more chances of players being tired or injured. At face value, it’s what their LaLiga rivals would want.
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You’d also doubt that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang feels any dilemma on the subject of whether it’s preferable for him and Barcelona to progress, but perhaps he should anticipate that there’s a conflict of interest. The Gabon international — who’s just become the first player this century to score a hat trick in Ligue 1, the Bundesliga, the Premier League and LaLiga — is at Barcelona because his new manager, one of the guys who saw Mikel Arteta off the premises back in 2002, has a different temperament to the Arsenal boss.
Xavi also has very…
Source : espn
