Barcelona excited to win Europa League title: Frenkie de Jong

Barcelona are in a good place at the moment and are looking to win the Europa League to make up for a difficult start to the season, midfielder Frenkie de Jong said on Wednesday. Barca host Galatasaray on Thursday in the last-16 first leg of the second-tier European competition. Although the Europa League is a step down from Barcelona's usual standards, it represents a chance to finish the season on a positive note.

"We're excited, we want to win titles and now we're in the Europa League. So we're going to do everything to win it," Dutchman De Jong told a news conference on Wednesday. "We are in a good place right now.

Enjoying our momentum and playing with confidence. We won games in which we dominated and it gives you a lot of confidence, so we want to keep the momentum going." With Real Madrid leading the LaLiga standings comfortably, 15 points ahead of third-placed Barcelona, the Europa League looks like the only way to win a trophy this season for Xavi Hernandez's side. And, after eliminating Serie A contenders Napoli in the previous round, they are favourites to triumph in the final at Seville's Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in May.

"We are pumped. We are in a competition that gives us hope," coach Xavi said. "We had very good feelings against Napoli.

We are in a very good dynamic and we want to keep going. We have to continue winning but we also want to win playing well. We have to keep insisting on our game model because it is what will give us consistency looking forward." Barca are unbeaten since Jan.