Adama Traore, Pique and Araujo speak out after Barcelona thrash Napoli

Barcelona cruised through to the Round of 16 stage of the UEFA Europa League after they thrashed Napoli 4-2 at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.

The Blaugrana had played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg at Camp Nou last week and were up against it in Italy. But a stunning display of attacking football saw the Catalans pull off a stunning victory to progress to the next round.

January signing Adama Traore was once again at the centre of things, as he set up two goals on the night and impressed with his pace and directness. Speaking about the result after the game (h/t Barça TV+), the Spanish winger said:

“I can’t talk about what happened in Europe in the past, I know what’s happening now, every player brings his grain of salt, we all know what the coach is asking for, it’s the way forward.”

Addressing his own performance, Adama added: “I think I can still grow a lot. I try to contribute my bit and I feel like the team is growing. The coach asks me for the same thing: find 1v1 dribbles, create space, and take the right decisions.”

Speaking of the threat he adds on the counter for Barça, the ex-Wolves ace said: “It’s important that we dominate various aspects of the game. If we can use our speed for counter attacks, then so be it.”

Finally, touching upon the mentality of the team, Adama stated: “Barcelona’s mentality is always to win any game, regardless of opponent or competition. That’s what we did today, and we’re going to keep working to be better.”

Gerard Pique, who got himself on the scoresheet on the night, was delighted with the victory and the manner in which the team played, claiming that Barça were getting back to their roots after losing their way under the previous management.

“We went back to the origins, to have the ball. For a while we stopped doing it. Who was to blame? A little bit of everyone, it’s not fair to target anyone. Decisions were made that were not appropriate,” he said.

“We finally competed in a difficult away match in Europe again. We hadn’t done that in a long time. We can’t blame an individual, though.”

Pique was also pleased with Barcelona’s attacking firepower, saying: “Now we have some real gunpowder upfront again.”

Speaking of his goal on the night, the veteran defender added: “I’ve always said that if I was a striker, I would score 15-20 goals a season.”

Referring back to his past statement after the defeat to Bayern Munich earlier in the season, Pique said: “From my ‘it’s what we have’ statement, many things have changed since then. The team is confident, and it has been strengthened in the winter.”

Pique’s defensive partner, Ronald Araujo, also spoke to the media after the game and expressed his pleasure with the result, saying: “I’m very happy. We were so good, and we have to keep working hard.”

“This is not the tournament that we should be playing in, but now that we are, we have to win it. We’re very happy with our progress and this is the way forward. It was very clear since the first leg, in which we also deserved to win.”

Having qualified to the next round Barcelona could face any of the following eight teams in Olympique Lyon, AS Monaco, Spartak Moscow, Eintracht Frankfurt, Galatasaray, Crvena Zvezda, Bayer Leverkusen, and West Ham United.