Why Barcelona cannot afford to slack in Europa League as Xavi's side face Napoli

A lot has changed since Barcelona were relegated from the Champions League to the Europa League after finishing third behind Bayern Munich and Benfica.

The Blaugrana made some decent signings in the January transfer window to beef up their squad and are also back in contention for a top-four place in La Liga.

Under Xavi Hernandez, there have been some improvements but the team will need more as they begin their journey in the Europa League on Thursday.

Barcelona will host Napoli at the Camp Nou in the first leg of the Round of 16 and anything less than a win would be hugely disappointing.

Blaugrana's road to redemption

Xavi's side may have dropped out of the Champions League, but they still have the chance to prove that they belong in European competitions.

The Europa League is obviously a step down, especially for a club that has competed at the very top for close to two decades now. However, the competition offers an opportunity for redemption.

Barcelona have not been among Europe’s elite in the last few years and this is now their level. As hard as it is for some fans to accept, the Spanish side are currently far from Europe's best teams.

Napoli, who are currently challenging for the Serie A title and have lost just once in their last seven matches in all competitions, won't be pushovers.

Luciano Spalletti's side will be tough customers and the onus lies with Barcelona to get the job done in whatever way possible.

A chance for a trophy

Based on how the season has panned out for Barcelona so far, they are likely to end up trophyless unless they win the Europa League.

The Blaugrana are currently 15 points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid and have also already been knocked out of the Copa del Rey.

"We will try to be at our best and we want to show that we are capable of competing in Europe. It's a great chance to keep improving and developing," Xavi said ahead of the game against Napoli, as quoted by Eurosport.

"100 days have seemed like 100 years. We have been in some unexpected situations, Covid, the winter transfer market...I am a big Barça fan and I want Barça to be back where it belongs."

The Europa League offers the Catalan giants the chance to win a trophy and that should be enough incentive for the club to take the competition very seriously.