Europa League, Galatasaray hold Barcelona 0-0: Records broken
Barcelona were held to a goalless draw by Turkish side Galatasary in the Europa League round of 16 first leg tie at Camp Nou. The hosts struck the post through Frenkie de Jong as Inaki Pena, who is on loan from Barcelona at Galatasaray, denied Memphis Depay twice. The visitors were solid defensively and showed character to earn a valuable clean sheet.
As per Opta, Xavi has become the second Barcelona manager to be winless in his two first home games in a European competition ever (D2) after Louis Van Gaal in 1996-97 Champions League edition (2-2 vs PSV and 0-4 vs Dynamo Kyiv).
As per Opta, Barcelona left-back Jordi Alba featured in his 100th game in major European competitions. Since 2009-10 season, only Gerard Pique (110), Jerome Boateng (102), and Sergio Ramos (101) have appeared most often between the defenders in European competitions.
⏰ RESULTS ⏰
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) March 10, 2022
First leg complete ✅ Best moment? #UEL pic.twitter.com/TdO4s8o03Y
This was the ninth meeting between the two clubs. Barca played just their third draw versus Galatsaray (W5 D3 L1). Prior to this, the Spanish side had won three successive games against Galatasaray. This was just the second occasion which saw Galatasaray avoid defeat at the Camp Nou versus Barca in European competitions (previously 2-2 draw in the Champions League 2001-02 season).
As per Opta, Barca have lost only two home games in the knockout rounds of major European competitions (W25 D9). They had lost against Bayern Munich in 2012-13 and PSG in 2020-21 (Champions League). Galatasaray are unbeaten in their last 11 European competition matches (including qualifiers. This is their longest run without a defeat in Europe since July-September 2009 (11).
