Barcelona advances in European competition under the cloak of a superlative Pedri

A work of art by Pedro González ‘Pedri’, in the first half, and another goal by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the second, Marcao’s initial goal for Galatasaray (1-2) advanced to the quarter-finals of the Europa League final.

After the goalless draw in the first leg at Camp Nou, the azulgranas again equalized away from home, just like they did three weeks ago at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples.

And that started the game too busy for Barça’s interests, who saw Galatasaray take the lead after 5 minutes in a counterattack that Jordi Alba avoided in extremis and covered the shot into the Gomis area when he was ready to beat Ter rose.

Gomis would come in himself and force a corner on the next play, while azulgrana’s team tried to lessen the pulsations of the game through possession.

Ferran Torres, Frenkie de Jong and Pedri tried in the next few minutes with two shots, but neither of them between the three posts.

Most obvious was De Jong, who received a filtered pass from Sergio Busquets in his breakout check, but failed to finish as his shot hit the left post of the visiting goal in a one-on-one with Inaki Pena.

Galatasaray, cheered by a standing Nef Stadium attempting to match old Ali Sami Yen, answered with a few runs to Babel’s right. In the first, the Dutch striker fired centered into the hands of Ter Stegen; in the second, he forced a corner that would end in 1-0.

Cicaldau took the corner for Marcao, ran ahead of Ferran Torres and finished the goal in the 28th minute. But Xavi Hernandez’s Barça is growing and also has a super class like Pedri in its ranks to throw the team on its back if things go wrong.

The Canary did it again in Istanbul, offering himself in every game and working between the lines with Busquets, De Jong and Ferran looking for a draw.

He first tried it without a goal from outside the area before starring in the game of the night. De Jong, Ferran and Pedri combined first at full speed, so Tegueste stopped time by entering the area and collapsing two rival defences, feigning his small body twice before subtly defeating Iñaki Peña.

Only nine minutes had passed since the local goal and Barcelona had brought the game back into balance. And most importantly, I felt like I was in control again.

He would have felt it even more if Aubameyang had scored the second in the final game before half-time, but the Gabonese headed the bar before the referee signaled for the locker room tunnel.

Sitting down with an inaccurate Adama, Xavi calmed Dembele in hopes the French winger’s unpredictable talent would decide the game for the visiting side. But today the Mosquito was not having its best day.

Barca didn’t need it either, as they made it 1-2 at the start of the second half with a triple chance from Sergio Busquets, Pedri and Aubameyang. Peña’s reflexes responded to the shot from the first two, but the Alicante goalkeeper could do nothing when Frenkie de Jong grabbed his second rebound and gave the ball to ‘Auba’ on the goal line.

Dest was injured ten minutes after half-time when he stopped a stage of Aktürkoglu, the star of the Ottoman team, and brought in Xavi Araujo on the right, who had been left back on the bench because of problems he had with the Uruguayan. get the ball played from the axis of the defense in the first leg.

Galatasaray was seen down for the first time in the draw and moved slightly forward in their lines. Domènec Torrent switched from ‘9’ -Mostafa for Gomis- and Van Aannholt tried from a distance, but his shot went high.

Barcelona suffered little from behind, save for some internment from Aktürkoglu on the left, but chained losses in the middle of the field and no longer approached the local area.

However, the Ottoman team lost confidence in forcing extra time and the referee had to stop the game, with five minutes remaining, due to Jordi Alba’s protests over the throwing of various objects onto the pitch from the stands. something the Catalan team took advantage of.

After this break, Barca regained possession and Galatasaray would no longer bother them. On the contrary, it was Memphis and Dembélé who were able to condemn the addition, although their shots ultimately failed.