PARIS – Barcelona stumbled to a goalless draw with Galatasaray in their UEFA Europa League last-16 first leg at the Camp Nou, while Moroccan forward Munir scored in the second half to give Sevilla a 1-0 win over West Ham.
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 VAR review for offside.
Memphis Depay, making his first start since December, forced Galatasaray goalkeeper Inaki Pena into two good first-half saves.
Jordi Alba, Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie de Jong all went close in the second period for Barcelona, but the hosts could not find a breakthrough.
Xavi’s side are still unbeaten in 90 minutes since defeat by Bayern Munich in their final Champions League group game last year.
But the Catalan giants will likely have to find a victory next Thursday to extend their bid to win this competition for the first time.
Rangers took a big step towards reaching the quarterfinals 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 play-off 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 the break to put the Glasgow giants in total control heading into the second leg.
Atalanta will take a lead to Germany next week after Luis Muriel scored twice in a 3-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen in Bergamo.
Meanwhile, Sevilla’s experience proved the difference against a team playing its first European knockout game in 40 years as the English side couldnt’ take its chances in an evenly balanced game at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, which will host the final in May.
In the late games, Barcelona hosted Galatasaray as the Spanish giant pursues the only trophy it can still win this season.
Leipzig’s meeting with Spartak Moscow was cancelled after all Russian clubs were expelled from international competitions following that country´s military invasion of Ukraine. Leipzig directly qualified for the quarterfinals.
In the Europa Conference League, Jose Mourinho´s Roma registered a 1-0 victory away at Dutch team Vitesse and Feyenoord rallied for a 5-2 victory at Partizan Belgrade. Slavia Prague and PAOK also recorded first-leg victories.
The second leg games are scheduled for March 17.
Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby’s 63rd-minute strike, his eighth goal in seven games, kept the tie on a knife-edge.
Elsewhere, Rangers cruised into a 3-0 lead in their tie against Red Star Belgrade.
There were goals galore in the third-tier Europa Conference League, with PSV Eindhoven and FC Copenhagen playing out a remarkable 4-4 draw.
The Danish visitors led 3-1 and 4-3 at the Philips Stadion, but Eran Zahavi grabbed an equaliser with five minutes remaining for PSV after Cody Gakpo had scored twice and missed a spot-kick.
Leicester saw off French side Rennes 2-0 at the King Power Stadium as Kelechi Iheanacho’s injury-time effort added to Marc Albrighton’s opener on the half-hour mark.
Jose Mourinho’s Roma claimed a 1-0 win at Vitesse Arnhem and Marseille conceded a late goal in a 2-1 success against FC Basle at the Stade Velodrome.
Feyenoord romped to a 5-2 thrashing of Partizan Belgrade in Serbia in a bad night for the country’s capital clubs, and Slavia Prague saw off LASK Linz 4-1.
Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui had to make a last-minute change to his lineup after Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakiti´c picked up an injury during the warmup. He was replaced by Munir, and the change paid off when the Moroccan forward half-volleyed the winner past West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola on the stroke of the hour.
Former Manchester United forward Anthony Martial came off the bench for Sevilla in his return from an injury, but the Spanish team was without several other key players, including Diego Carlos and Papu Gomez.
Discussion about this post