As the season progresses, the decisive hours are approaching and this week is loaded for a Barcelona that tonight in istanbul (late for Spain due to the time difference) will be played in the NEF Stadium (6:45 p.m., Movistar Champions League) its continuity to heads or tails against the Galatasaray. After the confusion of the first leg, only victory counts and we must remember that this time any tie leads to extra time. The rule of goals of double value in the opposite field does not exist (follow the match live on As.com).
The second leg of the Europa League round of 16 does not accept rectifications. If he loses it, Barça will be out of a competition that in case of winning it offers an onerous prize: direct qualification for the next Champions League as seeded and the option of playing the European Super Cup against the continental champion.
However, in the Barcelona environment these awards seem overshadowed by the game that appears on the horizon: nothing less than the Clásico against Real Madrid. A match that, unlike today’s, does have room for correction and does not seem decisive either, but the power of visiting the Bernabéu prevails in the collective imagination No matter how many efforts Xavi makes in insisting that the main thing is the confrontation against Domènec Torrent’s men.
The Catalan coach of Galatasaray amply demonstrated in the first leg that he knew the trick book perfectly to make life difficult for Barça. Applying these tricks does not guarantee you to defeat Xavi’s team, whose players obviously have more than enough tools to beat a team like the Turkish. But they failed in the basics: intensity and desire. Xavi did not hide his discomfort before his team’s match, going so far as to say that the problem was not football.
With Madrid appearing, the team arrives more than warned that no matter how much rehearsal it is for Sunday, in Istanbul it is played without a net.