Galatasaray drew a goalless draw against Barcelona in the opening leg of the Europa League round of 16 after losing out on a chance to beat the Spanish giant at home.
Galatasaray was subjected to a bombardment of 14 goal attempts, all of which were stopped by Galatasaray’s young 23-year-old Spanish goalkeeper, Inaki Pena.
Galatasaray had three goal attempts while attempting to generate decent chances with winger Kerem Aktürkolu.
“It is an honor to be applauded at Camp Nou,” said Pena after the match. When asked if he would return to Barcelona, Pena noted, “What will happen, will happen. But I now am focused on Galatasaray. I do not think anything else.”
Saying that Galatasaray was very good at a pitch against Barcelona, the Spanish athlete said, “We will see what will happen in Istanbul.”
Barcelona now faces a tricky return leg in Turkey in the only competition it still has a realistic chance of winning.
“We hope our fans will welcome Barcelona as they did to [Olympique de] Marseille,” Ryan Babel said regarding the return match on March 17 in Istanbul.
Galatasaray, was unbeaten in their past seven European matches, conceding just one goal in the last four.