Quique Setien 'Optimistic' About Barcelona's UCL Chances After Napoli Draw

Barcelona manager Quique Setien has called for optimism after Barcelona came back from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Napoli in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie at the Stadio San Paolo on Tuesday. 

Dries Mertens put the hosts ahead on the half-hour mark, but Antoine Griezmann equalised soon after half-time and honours finished even:

Due to their away goal and the fact that they return to the Camp Nou for the second leg on March 18, Barca remain strong favourites to advance to the quarter-finals, per Caesars Palace.

However, they were not overly convincing in Naples and were indebted to goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen for keeping the score at 1-1:

Furthermore, Sergio Busquets and Arturo Vidal were ruled out of the second leg because of a yellow and red card, respectively, at the San Paolo, and Gerard Pique had to be substituted late on due to injury, adding further to Barca's squad-depth concerns:

Setien, though, said he is confident his side have the resources to advance, per Guy Atkinson of Goal:

"We will look for solutions. We have lost important players, but we will recover two others—Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto. We have to look at things with optimism. We will be optimistic and think positively. It is a good result considering that we have a return game at home. 

"They have defended with 10 players very close to their area. It is true that we have not generated much, but we knew that it was a matter of patience. It has been a close match, and I consider it fair. We have had control, but in the first half they defended well and took advantage of the only occasion they had. The second half was different; there were more spaces, and we have done more damage. A 1-1 draw is fine for the second leg."

More pressingly for Barca is Sunday's visit to the Santiago Bernabeu to take on Real Madrid in La Liga.

The Blaugrana have a two-point lead over Zinedine Zidane's side at the top of the table, and the second El Clasico of the season could be crucial in deciding the destination of the title this term.

Barca are in good form in the league having won four games on the bounce since losing 2-0 at Valencia in January.

They beat Eibar 5-0 on Saturday, with Lionel Messi ending his mini goal drought by scoring four times:

Real, meanwhile, have allowed Barca to leapfrog them by dropping five points in their last two league games—a draw with Celta Vigo and loss to Levante.

Meetings between Real and Barca are hotly anticipated across the globe and can often prove explosive.

Given how close the pair are in La Liga, though, it would not be a huge surprise were Sunday's clash to play out like the reverse fixture at the Camp Nou in December, which ended 0-0.