Barcelona earn hard fought win against Galatasaray

Barcelona had to mount a comeback to get past Galatasaray

On paper, the Barcelona-Galatasaray tie was one of the more lopsided two-legged affairs. But the Turkish side gave the Catalan giants all they could handle in a 2-1 defeat that saw the Blaugrana advance to the next round.

Galatasaray actually went ahead before the half hour mark. Then Pedri, who has now added goals to his arsenal, equalized after sidestepping a handful of Gala defenders to calmly tuck it in past Iñaki Peña.

"“I thought about shooting but then I dummied, then faked another shot until I saw a space to shoot into,” Pedri said. “That’s all I remember. I’m lucky in that on the pitch I don’t have to think too much, things just come to me.”Source: UEFA"

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had a chance in the final moments of the half but his header hit the crossbar. However, four minutes into the second half, Aubameyang gave Barcelona the lead.

A rare long distance effort from Sergio Busquets deflected off a Gala defender. Peña’s quick reflexes kept the ball out but it rebounded to Pedri. Peña saved it again and as the ball fell to Frenkie de Jong, instead of taking a shot, the Dutchman headed to Aubameyang who only needed to guide it in.

Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez highlighted his team’s resilience after going a goal down.

"“I believe that we played a great match,” Xavi said.“We played with personality. We attacked well, we were patient and we came back in a difficult stadium.”Source: Marca"

The Barcelona of a couple of months ago may not have pulled out the same result. The belief instilled by Xavi is apparent and the players on the pitch no longer seem to panic when faced with the tiniest bit of adversity.

The win gives Barcelona some momentum ahead of El Clasico against Real Madrid on Sunday and it keeps their hopes alive at winning silverware this season.

So far in the Europa League, they seem a better team away from the Camp Nou. They drew in the last round 1-1 against Napoli only to go to Italy and win 4-2. This time, they were held to a scoreless draw before coming out on top in Turkey.

If there is a blemish to the win it has to be the injuries to Gerard Pique and Sergiño Dest. The center-back was subbed off and it was later revealed he had some discomfort. The right-back was forced off with an injury after a sliding challenge late in the game.

Pique should be available for the Real Madrid match but Dest has all but been ruled out.

As far as who Barcelona will face in the Europa League quarterfinals, they will travel to Germany to take on Eintracht Frankfurt before playing the second leg at the Camp Nou.