The Turkish side held Barca to a draw at Camp Nou, thanks to a brilliant defensive play.
Barcelona drew 0-0 with Galatasaray in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday. The Catalans must prepare for a tough battle in Turkey as they were not able to break the deadlock on home soil.
No goals for Barca 🚫
Barcelona came into the game on the back of their narrow win over Elche on Sunday. The Catalans were the clear favourites to win the game based on their recent performances. However, they soon realized their guests had prepared a detailed defensive plan.
Memphis Depay came close to scoring on two occasions during the first half, but Inaki Pena saved both of his shots.
Pena, who is a Barcelona player on loan at Galatasaray, continued his impressive display throughout the second half. On one occasion, however, only the post prevented Frenkie de Jong from scoring the opener.
Galatasaray gained enough confidence to attack Barca’s backline in the final ten minutes. They even scored a goal in the 81st minute, but VAR disallowed Bafétimbi Gomis’ effort.
Barcelona failed to score for the first time since their 3-0 defeat against Bayern Munich on December 8. They still have a better chance of securing a quarter-final spot, but Gala’s counter-attacks might cause bigger problems for them in the second leg.
What’s next for Barcelona and Galatasaray?
The two sides will meet again next Thursday, after facing their domestic rivals during the weekend. Barcelona lock horns with Osasuna on Sunday while Galatasaray meet Besiktas a day later.
Player Ratings
Barcelona: Ter Stegen (6); Dest (7), Araujo (6), Garcia (7), Alba (7); Gonzalez (6), De Jong (7), Pedri (6); Traore (7), Torres (5), Depay (6).
Bench: Busquets (6), Pique (6), L. De Jong (5), Aubameyang (6), Dembele (7).
Galatasaray: Pena (8); Boey (7), Nelsson (7), Marcao (8), Van Aanholt (6); Kutlu (7), Antalyali (6); Babel (6), Feghouli (6), Akturkoglu (5); Mohamed (5).
Bench: Yilmaz (6), Kilinc (6), Cicaldau (5), Gomis (6).
Be sure not to miss out on the latest news about Europa League
Download our brand new App and follow your favorite players, clubs, and much more
