Barcelona vs Galatasaray Match Analysis and Prediction

2 years ago 376

In-form Barcelona welcomes Galatasaray to Camp Nou for the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday night with kickoff at 23:00.

Barcelona looks to have moved on from their early season struggles and have been on an upward trajectory under manager Xavi. Indeed the Catalans have tremendously improved under Xavi, with his January signings also proving to be vital for the change.

However, La Liga title could be out reach for Xavi’s side as they currently sit 15 points behind the high-flying leaders Real Madrid, although Barcelona have played one match less. The Catalans, though, still have a chance of claiming trophy this season with the Europa League starting to look like a realistic opportunity for silverware.

Barcelona edged Napoli 5-3 on aggregate in the knockout playoffs to book a place in this round, and will fancy their chances gaining an upper hand to progress to the quarter-finals here. They are currently flying high having won all their last four matches across all competitions and are coming of a 2-1 away victory over Elche in La Liga last Sunday.

They are also in a good home form having just suffered one defeat in their last five home matches in all competitions and claimed an emphatic 4-0 win against Athletic Bilbao in the previous fixture at Camp Nou.

Meanwhile Galatasaray began their Europa League campaign in the group stage where did well emerging victorious in Group E with 12 points after claiming three wins and three draws in their six group matches.

However the Turks have been inconsistent since the end of the group stage and head into the match with just two wins from their last 10 matches across all competitions, picking up two draws while suffering six defeats in the process, and are coming off a 2-0 defeat to Konyaspor in Super Lig last Saturday.

They have also been a poor away form having won just one of their last 10 matches on the road across all competitions. They seem to have issues at the back as they have conceded 11 goals in the last five matches, and coming up against a rampant Barcelona side Domenec Torrent will need to work on his defence.

Barcelona vs Galatasaray head to head

This will be the second competitive encounter between the two sides, with Barcelona a 3-1 home win in the previous encounter in 2002. Take a look at their previous results;

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