Barcelona on Thursday stumbled to a goalless draw with Galatasaray in their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 first leg at the Camp Nou, while Rangers cruised into a 3-0 lead in their tie against Red Star Belgrade.
Xavi Hernandez’s Barca, playing in Europe’s second-tier competition for the first time since 2004, dominated for long periods, but it was their Turkish visitors who almost grabbed a lead ahead of the return game in Istanbul next week, with Bafetimbi Gomis only denied a winner by a video assistant referee review for offside.
Memphis Depay, making his first start since December, forced Galatasaray goalkeeper Inaki Pena into two good first-half saves.
Photo: AFP
Jordi Alba, Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie de Jong all went close in the second half for Barcelona, but the hosts could not find a breakthrough.
“The feeling is bad,” Xavi told Movistar+. “It’s not a good result, playing at home and dominating so much. This is Europe, even if it’s the Europa League, and teams are there on their own merits.”
Xavi’s side are still unbeaten in 90 minutes since defeat by Bayern Munich in their final UEFA Champions League group game last year, but the Catalan giants will likely have to find a victory on Thursday next week to extend their bid to win the competition for the first time.
Rangers took a big step toward reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since losing the 2008 UEFA Cup final to Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men backed up their stunning win over Borussia Dortmund in the playoff round with another dominant first-leg performance against Red Star at Ibrox.
James Tavernier’s penalty and Alfredo Morelos’ 28th career goal in the tournament put the home side in command.
Visiting midfielder Aleksandar Katai, who had earlier seen two goals disallowed, then had a penalty saved by Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor.
The Scottish champions took full advantage, with Leon Balogun adding a third six minutes after halftime to put the Glasgow giants in total control heading into the second leg.
“It’s an unbelievable achievement,” Rangers captain Tavernier told BT Sport. “We are only halfway there, but the boys were brilliant. We really managed it well and we’ve put ourselves in a good position. We can’t be complacent, though, and we’ll go in there like it’s 0-0.”
Atalanta BC take a lead to Germany next week after Luis Muriel scored twice in a 3-2 win over Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Bergamo, Italy.
Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby’s 63rd-minute strike, his eighth goal in seven games, kept the tie on a knife edge.
Elsewhere, Abel Ruiz scored in the first minute as SC Braga beat AS Monaco 2-0 in Portugal, while Munir El Haddadi gave Sevilla a 1-0 home win over West Ham United in the early kickoff.
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