As was the case in the opening leg of its playoff tie against Napoli, Barcelona kicked off its Europa League round of 16 tie against Galatasaray with a draw, as it finished with a 0-0 result.
Barca controlled the pace of play over the course of the contest, as it maintained possession with relative ease against Galatasaray’s double-pivot setup and also held the Turkish side to one total shot on target. Still, Barca was unable to find the back of the net, especially as the starting trio upfront combined for a mere two total shots on target, with both of them coming from Dutch forward Memphis Depay.
As Barca manager Xavi Hernandez touched on after the match, multiple factors marred the Catalan side's overall performance on the day.
“We have not been as we have been lately,” Xavi said. “I told the players. As soon as you lower the intensity, everything evens out. We improved in the second half. We tried in every way we could. We came up against a very strong opponent defensively.
“We lacked to attack better… We dominated. We generated, although less than usual, to score.”
Spanish international Pedri earned a start in the contest in Xavi’s notable midfield trio. He went on to play in the entirety of the fixture, as he completed 57 passes and created three goal-scoring chances for teammates.
Overall, the Barca midfielder sees that the La Liga powerhouse lacked “rhythm” when it maintained possession over the match.
“Mentally, a 0-0 is not what we wanted,” Pedri said. “We wanted to win and score many more goals and it wasn't to be.
“We didn't have rhythm on the ball. When we were rolling from one side to the other, space was generated. We didn't press well.”
The return leg of this Europa League round of 16 tie will come next week, as the two sides will aim to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals of the competition. But for now, Barcelona will return to La Liga play in the upcoming home clash against Osasuna. The side enters the match sitting at third in the La Liga standings.
Follow Us
Subscribe