Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is concerned Neymar may be set for a lengthy layoff after the Brazilian superstar injured his groin before their final UEFA Champions League group match.
The defending champions were already through to the round-of-16 for the 12th year in succession and ended their group campaign on Wednesday with a 1-1 draw at Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Enrique named a second-string team at the BayArena by including only four first-choice players in Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Ivan Rakitic, Jordi Alba and captain Lionel Messi.
Photo: AP
An early Messi goal was canceled out by Javier Hernandez’s equalizer, but despite the result the Germans were eliminated.
With AS Roma drawing 0-0 at home to BATE Borisov, Leverkusen had to beat Barcelona to progress, but the German side blew their chance and instead find themselves in the UEFA Europa League in February.
Enrique’s main concern was Neymar’s adductor injury in the final training session in Germany on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old has been in sensational form this season, scoring 16 goals in 18 appearances and crowned La Liga’s Player of the Month for last month on the day of his injury.
“It’s of course, the bad news from this fixture. It’s an unpleasant situation and we have to wait to see what the team doctor says,” Enrique said about Neymar’s injury. “We don’t know how bad the injury is and we have to hope he recovers quickly in the next few days. It’s always unpleasant to lose a player through an injury, possibly long term, and we have to hope it’s not as bad as feared.”
Enrique said he had a “positive feeling” from the way his experimental side coped with a torrent of Leverkusen chances, as the German side peppered the Barca goal with 25 shots compared with six.
Cameroon teenager Wilfrid Kaptoum made his Champions League debut and midfielder Sergi Samper made only his third appearance. First-choice Spain internationals Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique were left in Barcelona, while Dani Alves was suspended and Luis Suarez spent the game on the bench.
The team selection was understandable as Barcelona have a busy spell coming up and the Catalans play their FIFA Club World Cup semi-final in Japan on Thursday next week.
“I felt positive about our performance,” said Enrique, with his side already through as Group E winners. “I wanted to give the players who have played the most minutes a rest and I saw good signs from us against a team that really had to win. The game was a litmus test for us. In the last 16, we’ll face whoever we’re lucky enough to be drawn with.”
Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt struggled to contain his emotions as his side squandered numerous chances to reach the round-of-16 for the third successive year.
“I can’t believe that we didn’t win, I’m very disappointed, and the fact that Roma didn’t beat BATE makes it a tragedy,” Schmidt said. “We had the chances, we just didn’t use them.”
In Rome, a listless Roma sneaked into the round-of-16 at the Stadio Olimpico, but were booed off the pitch by their own fans.
Victory would have guaranteed Roma a place in the knockout rounds as Group E runners-up behind Barcelona, but they appeared content to play for a draw, banking on Leverkusen failing to beat Barca at the BayArena.
Rudi Garcia’s side were jeered off at the final whistle as they got away with their limp performance.
“The team deserves to be applauded for qualifying, but it’s frustrating when you come here and they’re getting whistled at,” Roma president James Pallotta told Roma TV. “The fans should be cheering us on, the lads work day after day to improve, and deserve a different response from the crowd.”
The wheels have come off for Roma in recent weeks and their intensity has dipped noticeably since a 6-1 hammering by Barca and a miserable 2-0 defeat by Atalanta BC in Serie A.
The scintillating attacking form they showed during early this season was absent against BATE and the Giallorossi lacked the creativity and intensity required to break down the Belarussian side.
Only Miralem Pjanic went close with several efforts in the first half, notably when he forced Syarhey Chernik into a fine save in the 28th minute.
Edin Dzeko spurned Roma’s best chance two minutes after halftime when he broke through one-on-one with Chernik, only to be thwarted by the goalkeeper’s outstretched foot.
Sensing fragility on the part of their hosts, BATE began to surge forward and Wojciech Szczesny was forced into a superb save in the 68th minute when he instinctively blocked from Ihar Stasevich at point-blank range.
“It was not the most beautiful performance, but we qualified and that’s what’s important,” Szczesny told Mediaset. “I think [the fans] have a right to be frustrated, as they want to win games and see us play beautiful football.”
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