Barcelona boss Xavi won’t be satisfied with a draw against Napoli: ‘We always go out to win’

Barcelona begin their journey in the 2023-24 Champions League knockout stages when they face Napoli in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples on Wednesday, and the Catalans will be looking for a positive result to take back home for the second leg at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium in three weeks.

The Catalans will be considered slight favorites given Napoli’s chaotic season, but the Italian champions will look to take advantage of the home crowd to cause Barça problems and make the Blaugrana’s job in the second leg a lot harder.

Xavi Hernández was asked in a press conference on Tuesday if a draw would be considered a good result in the first leg, but the coach promises to go for the win even away from home.

“We will go out to win, as always. We go out to win, we are Barça, a draw is not a good result. We will go out like this, then depending on the circumstances we will see if it is a good result or not.

“But we have to take into account that we have a home game and that they will have to visit Montjuïc. The tie is going to be even. I think that playing away first is not a disadvantage. There is no clear favorite, you have to earn it on the field.”

Barça do have a very recent experience of facing Napoli away from home in Europe, with the two sides clashing in the Europa League Playoffs two years ago in Xavi’s first season. The Catalans won the first leg 4-2 in Naples in what is to this day arguably their best performance in continental play under Xavi, and the boss will hope to recapture some of the magic from that night to earn another big victory in Italy on Wednesday.