If Ferran Torres had his shooting boots on during Thursday’s Europa League play-off first-leg tie against Napoli, Barcelona could’ve already had one foot in the next round.
He did manage to coolly dispatch a penalty to level the scores up after the Italian giants had taken the lead, but the Spaniard missed a whole host of other chances during the game.
One or two were marginal, but most were missed by a distance, and for a player that cost €55m, that’s unforgivable.
It was clearly something that affected the player himself, as TV cameras captured his tearful reaction at full-time.
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Bought from Manchester City because he wasn’t getting enough games despite being a full Spanish international, Torres has had more than enough games to be able to make his mark.
However, he’s flattered to deceive in almost all of them and Thursday night was just another example of the same pattern.
The responsibility of being the main man up front is clearly weighing heavily on his shoulders, and it might be just as well for Xavi to take him out of the firing line for a game or two, perhaps bringing him on as a substitute if required.
Though strikers are all about confidence, the flip side is that when that confidence is at its lowest ebb, trying to play through it isn’t always wise.
Barca have a decision to make and one which they have to get exactly right.
Torres, in the meantime, needs to get back to basics, starting with being able to consistently hit the target.