Domènec Torrent He has already provided the line-up with which Galatasaray will try to surprise Barça at the Camp Nou in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16. The technician from Santa Coloma de Farners (Girona), who returns to the house where he left as an analyst of Pep Guardiola between 2008 and 2012, bet on Inaki Pena; Boey, Nelsson, Marcao, Van Aanholt; Kutiu, Antalyali; Babel, Feghouli, Akturkoglu; y Mohamed. On the bench remain the goalkeepers Muslera and Çipe and the players Öztürk, Pulgar, Gomis, Ömer Bayram, Morutan, Kaan Arslan, Cicaldau, Barış Alper Yılmaz, Emre Kılınç y Dervişoğlu. En la grada, los dos jugadores no inscritos en la UEFA: Omar Elabdellaouidischarged 13 months after a fireworks accident that left him blind, and Semih Kaya.
It highlights that Inaki Penaon loan from Barça in January, remains as a starter although the veteran Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, an institution in the Turkish club for more than a decade, is already recovered from the injury that kept him out for three months. The Barça academy player has shown a good level in his five games in the Turkish Super League (two draws, two wins and one loss). It is also relevant that two veterans play at the start, such as Babelex Deportivo, and Feghouliex Valencia, to the detriment of other more promising players.
Galatasaray is going through difficult times in the Turkish Super League, in 12th place, 22 points behind the leader, Trabzonspor, and 12 points behind the European zone, only 8 above relegation. Domènec Torrent arrived in January, taking over from an institution like Fatih Terimbut the results were slow in coming (three losses and two draws) and they went wrong again after two wins in a row last Saturday with a loss to Konyaspor (2-0).
In Europe, yes, still with Term, the Turkish team has gone 10 games without losing between the four of the two Europa League qualifiers and the six of the aforementioned group stage. Like Barça, they began the season in the Champions League, in their case in a distant month of July, but were eliminated in qualifying by PSV Eindhoven.
Without Arda Turaninjured, also veterans Muslera, Gomis, Babel and Feghouli, the last two starters, are the best-known players of Barça’s rival, although the Turkish winger Akturkoglu which sounds for Atlético, and the Romanian midfielder Cicaldautoday a substitute, on the agenda of Italian clubs, are the youngsters who stand out the most.
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