“Ter Stegen better watch his back!” – Player ratings as Galatasaray hold Barcelona to 0-0 draw in the Europa League
In a frustrating night of football, Barcelona were held to a 0-0 draw by a brave Galatasaray side.
The Turkish side showed up and put in a resolute defensive display to completely stifle a somewhat listless Barcelona.
Here’s how the players rated at Camp Nou:
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Barcelona
Marc-André Ter Stegen – 5 – Had nothing to do.
Sergino Dest – 7 – Protected his flank well (bar one poor tackle) but wasn’t as useful as he could have been in the final third.
Ronald Araujo – 7 – Defended well but was taken off at half-time.
Eric Garcia – 7 – Absolutely had his hands full whenever Galatasaray ran at him but managed to stay in the game by the skin of his teeth. Made a massive block to stop Galatasaray from scoring their only real chance of the game.
Jordi Alba – 8 – A tremendous performance from Alba, especially in transition defence as he repeatedly protected his team by cutting Galatasaray counters off before they even got started.
Frenkie De Jong – 6 – A middling display from the Dutchman. He didn’t move the ball quick enough as a pivot, and when he moved forward all his good intention was undone by some sluggish passes.
Nico – 4 – Really poor. Constantly took too long in possession and allowed Galatasaray to reset positions when they were struggling early.
Pedri – 7 – Not at his best, but still a solid performance from Pedri. Created a game-high 3 chances and always pushed Barcelona up.
Adama Traoré – 7 – Sublime with the ball at his feet. Completed an astonishing 7/8 dribbles and put in 8 crosses. Unfortunately for Barcelona, his aim was off on those crosses. That said, the Blaugrana really lost something when he was taken off.
Memphis – 4 – When he can’t overpower opponents, he can’t play well. And he couldn’t overpower anyone in the Galatasaray defence.
Ferran Torres – 5 – Not as bright as he has been in recent weeks. Subbed at half-time.
Barcelona Substitutes:
Sergio Busquets (for Nico 46′) – 7 – Immediately pushed the tempo of the match up a notch.
Gerard Piqué (for Araujo 46′) – 6 – Defended well. Passed nicely.
Ousmane Dembélé (for Ferran 46′) – 6 – Erratic. Was ambitious but rarely effective.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (for Memphis 61′) – 5 – Never really got into the flow of the game.
Luuk de Jong (for Adama 80′) – 5 – Barely saw the ball.
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Galatasaray
Inaki Pena – 9 – A masterful display from the goalkeeper on loan from Barcelona. If this was his audition to prove he deserves to contend with Ter Stegen next season then he certainly passed it. The German better watch his back!
Made big saves when he was called upon but more than that, he really dominated his area and came to collect crosses with supreme confidence. And a measure of how calm and composed he was? No one attempted or completed more passes for Galatasaray than Pena, and remember: he’s their goalkeeper.
Sacha Boey – 8 – The 21-year-old Cameroon international was absolutely immense on the right for Galatasaray. He shut down any and every opponent who ran at him, crunched in with 5 tackles and made an impressive 7 clearances. If this was a shop window for the Gala players, few impressed more than Boey.
Victor Nelsson – 8 – The Dane was dominant at the heart of defence, making a massive 13 clearances.
Marcao – 8 – Phenomenal display at the heart of the Gala defence as he got his body in the way of everything.
Patrick Van Aanholt – 5 – Adama made mincemeat out of the Dutch left-back over and over again. To his credit he stuck at it (and had an easier time dealing with Ousmane Dembélé) but he was lucky that Adama couldn’t calibrate his crosses.
Berkan Kutlu – 8 – A battling display in midfield as he tried to stem the tide.
Taylan Antalyal – 7 – Defended well.
Ryan Babel – 5 – Tracked back and worked hard but didn’t really have much impact.
Sofiane Feghouli – 7 – Really calm and composed in possession. Has experience facing a Cruyffist Barcelona thanks to his time with Valencia and used that here to evade the press and keep Galatasaray in possession.
Kerem Akturkoglu – 7 – Produced a stunning run and shot that saw him almost give Galatasaray a shock lead.
Mostafa Mohamed – 5 – Worked hard but couldn’t do much.
Substitutes:
Emre Kilinc (for Babel 68′) – 6 – Got stuck in but also showed moments of great composure.
Bafetimbi Gomis (for Mohamed 68′) – 7 – Terrified Barcelona’s defenders when he came on with his positional intelligence and athletic prowess. With Araujo on the bench, the Blaugrana had no answer for Gomis and were just lucky that Gala didn’t commit more to attack.
Baris Yilmaz (for Akturkoglu 90’+3) – n/a – Came on late.
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