Busquets insistent 'angry' Barcelona will not let Europa League exit affect domestic form

By Sports Desk February 23, 2023

Sergio Busquets acknowledged Barcelona are "angry" after their Europa League exit to Manchester United, but insists it will not affect their domestic form.

Xavi's side saw their European exploits come to an end for the season after they let a one-goal lead slip at Old Trafford in a 2-1 loss to the Premier League side.

With Erik ten Hag's men taking a 4-3 aggregate victory across both legs, it marks another disappointing to end to a continental campaign for the Blaugrana.

Barca remain top of LaLiga and in the hunt for Copa del Rey success though, and while Busquets touched on the sting of defeat, he was adamant they will be fine.

"In terms of spirit, it does take its toll," he told Movistar+. "We are angry, but the team is aware of where that comes from.

"We are good in the league, but in Europe, we lack that little point. We must aspire to win everything. We are on the right path, and I'm sure [this] won't take its toll on the team."

Defeat in the Europa League marked a second exit from a continental competition this season, with Barca having dropped into the second-tier competition from the Champions League.

In a group that also included Bayern Munich and Inter, they only managed a pair of wins over Viktoria Plzen, but Busquets shut down suggestions this latest result represents a similar failure.

"They have been different eliminations," he added. "In the Champions League, a lot of things happened that were incredible. We weren't good in some games.

"Today is different. This was a tie against one of the best teams in the Premier League. Defeat could happen."

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    The victory ended a run of back-to-back defeats for the German team in the competition, leaving them 17th in the league with six points from four matches. 

    "It's important for us to win a game this way. In the past, we always scored three, four or five goals, but today we stayed calm," Kompany told the official club website.

    "We had 24 shots on goal and the opposition had one. Not every finish was dangerous, but we controlled the game. There are games in which the last pass just isn't as precise as necessary.

    "We know we can decide matches within the first five minutes if we're on good form. That didn't happen today. But in the end, it's the Champions League. It was a good game and a good win."

    Midfielder Jamal Musiala scored the only goal of the game in the 67th minute, turning home Harry Kane's knockdown after Leroy Sane had played the ball across the box.

    Sane is yet to start a game in any competition for Bayern this season, coming on in the 56th minute on Wednesday, but his contribution was not lost on Kompany.

    "Obviously, I'm really happy to have the quality of Leroy Sane and Michael Olise in the same position - not to forget Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry. You can say Leroy turned this game around today," he said.

    The goalscorer Musiala, meanwhile, was pleased after scoring his fifth goal in all competitions for the club this season.

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    "We all knew we had to win tonight and we did a good job. We had a tough time settling into the game, but we can't win by four or five goals every time. Sometimes a 1-0 win has to be enough.”

  • Flick lauds Barcelona's focus in big Red Star win Flick lauds Barcelona's focus in big Red Star win

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    Data Debrief: Lewandowski out on his own 

    Lewandowski has now scored 19 goals in 16 appearances for Barcelona this season; the most of any player for a team in Europe's big five leagues across all competitions. 

    Eleven of those 19 goals have come in away matches, which is also the most of any player this term.

    As a team, Barca have netted 55 goals in 16 games across all competitions in 2024-25, the most of any team from the big five European leagues. 

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