heir level of performances lately and the other ties in this Round of 16 which will inevitably knock out quite a few really good sides, Barça can be considered favorites in the Europa League while also remaining focused on finishing in the La Liga Top 4, something which was almost impossible to imagine not too long ago.
After a brutal but magical February, Barça are in the middle of another busy month with five games in the first three weeks of March before the final international break of the season. The last game before the break is El Clásico, and that one will happen three days after a long trip to Turkey for the second leg of the European tie with Galatasaray.
With such a short turnaround ahead of the biggest game of their season, Barça must try their hardest to get a strong result in the first leg and earn the opportunity to rest some players for the return match. The possibility of a big win does exist on Thursday: this has not been a good season for Galatasaray, who are trying to rebuild their squad on the fly and have been plagued by some serious inconsistency throughout the campaign.
Competition/Round: 2021-22 UEFA Europa League, Round of 16, Leg 1
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Gavi, Dani Alves, Ansu Fati, Sergi Roberto, Samuel Umtiti, Alejandro Balde (out)
Galatasaray Outs & Doubts: Arda Turan (doubt)
Date/Time: Thursday, March 10, 2022, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8pm GMT (UK), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 1.30am IST (India, Friday)
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: Benoît Bastien (FRA)
VAR: Delajod Willy (FRA)
They did top their Europa League group with an unbeaten record in a group featuring Lazio and Olympique Marseille, however, so their European exploits have been the highlight of their season and will give them confidence that they can pull off the upset against Barça. They usually don’t do any bus parking, so they will take the game to the Blaugrana and try to get a good result on the road.
