Barcelona 0-0 Galatasaray: Xavi's men held at Camp Nou in goalless draw

This was not the big performance or result Barcelona wanted in the last 16 first leg against a stubborn Galatasaray, determined to head back to Istanbul without a deficit.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

27' Depay's free kick stopped by goalkeeper

29' Yellow Card! Kutlu booked

34' Yellow Card! Depay booked

36' Akturkoglu's shot over the bar

41' Depay's long shot stopped

57' Busquets' header stopped by goalkeeper

62' Alba's long shot wide out

72' Traore's shot wide out

75' CLOSE! De Jong hits the post

78' OFFSIDE! Gomis’ goal disallowed

Xavi took the opportunity to bring in Memphis Depay after his recent goals from the bench and Eric Garcia came in for Gerard Pique. Nico Gonzalez was named as part of the midfield trio, with Sergio Busquets afforded a rest.

The tight win over Elche at the weekend could be put down to the hosts defensive display, but even though Galatasaray were similarly defensive it would be too kind to Barcelona to suggest that was the case again.

The Turkish side, 12th in their domestic division, were given an easy ride in the first half, with Xavi’s men failing to create anything of note.

The closest they came were a couple of Memphis Depay digs from distance. One a free kick tipped wide by Inaki Pena, the other a curler from distance.

Xavi did not like what he saw and made changes at half-time. In came Gerard Pique, Ousmane Dembele and Sergio Busquets, with Ronald Araujo, Ferran Torres and Nico Gonzalez making way.

The Catalans improved a little after the break, with Frenkie de Jong coming closest with an effort that hit the post after substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s overhead kick fell into his path. That was as close as they got, though.

With the second leg in Istanbul coming just three days before the Clasico, this result is far from ideal.

Line-ups

Barcelona XI: Alba, Ter Stegen, Depay, Traore, De Jong, Ferran Torres, Ronald Araujo, Eric Garcia, Dest, Nico González, Pedri

Subs: Pique, Aubameyang, Busquets, Luuk de Jong, Neto, Braithwaite, Lenglet, Dembele, Arnau Tenas, Riqui Puig, Óscar Mingueza

Galatasaray XI: Babel, Feghouli, Van Aanholt, Antalyalı, Teixeira, Pena, V. Nelsson, K. Aktürkoğlu, Mostafa Mohamed, Sacha Boey, B. Kutlu

Subs: B. Gomis, Muslera, Bayram, A. Öztürk, Pulgar, E. Kılınç, İ. Çipe, A. Cicâldău, O. Moruțan, H. Dervişoğlu, B. Yılmaz, I. Arslan