Barcelona play out goalless draw at home to Galatasaray

Barcelona forward Pedri has rued missed chances in Barcelona’s 0-0 draw against Turkish side Galatasaray in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night, calling for the Blaugrana to be stronger at the Camp Nou.

Xavi’s side have won their last four matches in the competition, including a 4-2 win at Napoli in the second leg fixture of the last round of the Europa League.

However, the Catalans found it difficult to break down the tough Turkish Giants whom they will face next week. Meanwhile, the Spanish player explained that the team were not expecting a goalless encounter as a win was the target and pointed out that Barcelona had to do better at the Camp Nou in subsequent games.

“Mentally, a 0-0 is not what we wanted. We wanted to win and score many more goals, and it was not possible. We didn’t have rhythm on the ball. When we moved from one side to the other, space was created. We didn’t press well. Teams come here to sit back. We have to be stronger at home. We have to start winning in Europe here. We knew that it was a team that pressed well, that they were going to have the ball. We knew it was going to be difficult.” Pedri

However, Barcelona will have to secure a win in the second leg next Thursday in Turkey if they want to make better statements at the Camp Nou.

Before dropping to the Europa League, Barcelona only won one home game in the UEFA Champions League against Dynamo Kiev but lost to Bayern Munich and played a 0-0 draw with Benfica at the Camp Nou.

Meanwhile, Sevilla secured a 1-0 victory against West Ham United in the Europa league, although Real Betis were quite unlucky in their European encounter with a 2-1 loss to German side Frankfurt on Wednesday.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu