March 11, (THEWILL) – Despite turning in a fairly dominant performance in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 encounter against Galatasaray on Thursday night, Barcelona were held to a 0-0 draw and there was a reason why.
Their attacking approach was a far cry from their previous European game, a 4-2 rout of Napoli in which Xavi Hernandez’s men battered the Italian side’s penalty area with reckless abandon.
On Thursday night, however, goal-mouth action was scarce from the start, with both teams unable to create gilt-edged chances. The hosts appeared to be the most likely to break through their opponents, but they were unable to do so before the halftime break.
Memphis Depay came close to scoring in the 27th minute with a stunning free-kick before forcing Barcelona loanee Inaki Pena into a leaping save with a delicious curling effort shortly after.
Galatasaray, on the other hand, held their own and caused terror at the back through Kerem Akturkoglu, whose weaving move resulted in an effort that Eric Garcia had to divert just over the crossbar shortly before halftime.
At the break, Xavi made a triple substitution, but while Depay went near again with a header that Pena pushed just over the bar, it would take until the 75th minute for Barcelona to really tear through their opponents.
The opportunity came via Adama Traore’s excellent footwork on the right flank, before Frenkie de Jong pushed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s bicycle kick onto the post, with the ball rebounding directly into the appreciative Pena’s midriff.
However, things took a dramatic change just minutes later when Bafetimbi Gomis, a former Swansea player, put the ball in the back of the net. A VAR check cut the visitors jubilation short, though, as the Frenchman was shown to be offside before barging down on goal, much to the relief of an overwhelming majority at the Camp Nou.
Xavi’s team regained possession almost immediately, but they continued to search in vain, failing to find the fatal ball that would rip Galatasaray open and break the tie.
The visitors returned to Turkey with a deserved goalless draw, while Barça face the difficult challenge of depending on an away win to advance to the next round of the Europa League.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
