Five key stats from Barcelona 0-0 Galatasaray

Barcelona went into Thursday night’s UEFA Europa League Round of 16 first-leg clash against Galatasaray high on confidence having picked up four consecutive wins in all competitions. However, that confidence did not translate into the desired result as the two teams played out a goalless draw.

Inaki Pena, on loan at Galatasaray from Barça, made a series of important saves while Frenkie de Jong struck the post in the second half. At the other end, Bafetimbi Gomis had a goal chalked out for offside, with both teams not doing enough in attack.

Goalscoring woes return?

Goals had been a problem for Barcelona in the first half of the season. While it seemed like things had improved of late, Thursday’s game saw them become the first team to not score a goal against Galatasaray in 2022.

The Turkish giants have conceded at least once in their previous nine matches in all competitions since the turn of the year. But Barça failed to breach their goal at Camp Nou last night.

Starting troubles

Despite the vast improvements that have been seen under the management of Xavi Hernandez, the Blaugrana still have issues to address.

Under Xavi, Barcelona have played eight games at Camp Nou, and have failed to score in the first half in five of those. Getting quick, positive starts is something that the team will need to start making a habit of as they cannot afford to leave it late every time.

Xavi’s wait for first home win in Europe continues

Thursday’s encounter was Xavi’s third game in charge of Barça in the UEFA Europa League and the second he has managed at Camp Nou. His record so far in the competition reads W1 D2.

Following the draw against Galatasaray, Xavi has become the second Barcelona manager to go without a win in his two first home games in a European competition after Louis Van Gaal in 1996/1997.

Interestingly, Xavi has also failed to win his only Champions League home match in charge of Barcelona, having drawn 0-0 against Benfica.

Personal milestone for Jordi Alba

Thursday also saw Jordi Alba achieve a personal milestone as he played his 100th game in major European competitions.

Since the 2009/10 season, only Gerard Pique (110), Jerome Boateng (102) and Sergio Ramos (101) are the only three defenders with more appearances than Alba in the Champions League and the Europa League.

Frenkie de Jong the pass master

Starting at the base of the midfield in Sergio Busquets’ absence, Frenkie de Jong completed 30 of his 31 attempted passes in the first half against Galatasaray.

The Dutchman moved into his usual interior midfield position after the half-time break and continued to be precise with his distribution, finishing with 50/54 passes completed, with an accuracy of 93%.