Quique Setien Laments Barcelona’s Inability to Convert Chances Against Celta

Quique Setien
Barcelona boss Quique Setien | Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Barcelona boss Quique Setien rued missed chances in his side’s 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo on Saturday afternoon, as the Catalans handed the advantage back to Real Madrid in the La Liga title race.

It appeared Barça were going to hold on to a slender 2-1 victory following Luis Suarez’s well-taken brace, but Celta struck late on through an Iago Aspas free-kick to restore parity.

Iago AspasIago Aspas
Iago Aspas equalised two minutes from time with a craftily taken free-kick | Octavio Passos/Getty Images

It was a mightily disappointing afternoon for Setien, particularly as his side had looked impressive in the opening 45 minutes. The Spaniard was bullish, however, in his assessment of the game, claiming his side warranted walking away with all three points.

“They took a lot of risks in the last few minutes and they found a goal that gave them a point,” Setien said, as quoted by Marca.

“We shouldn’t have got into that situation because we were much the better team in the first half. We had to have gone in at the break with a more comfortable scoreline. I think [football is unfair].

“The superiority we had in the first half was enough to have won the match and gone into [the second half] with more relaxation. We’re finding it difficult. Scoring is sometimes a question of luck.”

Lionel Messi, Ansu Fati and Gerard Pique all spurned glorious openings in the first period, as Barça failed to build on their 1-0 lead before the break.

Lionel Messi, Luis SuarezLionel Messi, Luis Suarez
Lionel Messi uncharacteristically fluffed his lines in front of goal in the opening period | Soccrates Images/Getty Images

The result means that if Real beat the lowly Espanyol on Sunday night, they’ll take a two-point lead at the top of the table and Setien says his side will have to win all their remaining six league encounters if they are to pip Los Blancos to the title.

“It’s true that we had a two-point lead 11 matches ago and now, as long as our rivals win, they’ll have that advantage,” he added.

“We’ve got little margin for error now and, in theory, we have to win all our games and hope our rival slips up.

Zinedine ZidaneZinedine Zidane
Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid have been handed back the initiative in the La Liga title race | Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

“We’ll try to keep picking up maximum points. We’ll see if we have a bit more solvency in some aspects that make things easier for us.”

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