Barcelona will aim to move one step closer to Europa League glory when they welcome Galatasaray to Camp Nou for the first leg of their last-16 battle on Thursday evening.

The Catalan giants defeated Napoli 5-3 on aggregate to make it this far, while their visitors qualified first from the group stage in Europe's secondary competition.

Match preview

There was a time not that long ago when Barcelona and Galatasaray would both be in the hat for the knockout stages of the Champions League, but Xavi is now navigating the unfamiliar territory of the Europa League, which the club took to quite quickly in the playoff round.

After being held to a 1-1 draw by Napoli at home in the first leg of their playoff tie, La Blaugrana dusted off their best shooting boots to claim a 4-2 win in Naples and advance to the last-16, and things may finally be starting to look up for the Catalan club.

Ferran Torres and Memphis Depay both came off the bench to steer Barcelona to a 2-1 win against Elche in the weekend's La Liga fixture, which represented the Blaugrana's fourth win on the bounce in all competitions as Xavi weaves his magic.

There is the small matter of El Clasico with Real Madrid and a meeting with high-flying Sevilla to come for Barcelona in the next few weeks, but having racked up 14 goals in their four-game winning streak, they are certainly hitting form at a crucial moment in the season.

Barca's unbeaten streak in all competitions now stands at eight matches since defeat to Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey back in January, and having also suffered just two defeats in their last 35 European knockout games at Camp Nou, Galatasaray could be in for a rough ride.

Still unbeaten in the 2021-22 Europa League, Galatasaray's group with Marseille, Lazio and Lokomotiv Moscow was hardly a cakewalk, but the Turkish giants amassed 12 points from a possible 18 to qualify for the last-16 stage as group winners.

This week's visitors to Camp Nou could not keep the momentum going domestically, though, as they embarked on an alarming five-game losing streak across league and cup competition before seemingly turning a corner with the appointment of Domenec Torrent to replace Fatih Terim.

However, after navigating their four Super Lig fixtures in February without defeat, Galatasaray warmed up for the first leg with a 2-0 defeat away to Konyaspor, with their miserable streak over the winter months seeing them plummet down the rankings into the bottom half.

Galatasaray ought to be encouraged by their 10-game unbeaten streak in this season's Europa League since entering in the qualifiers, but it is now 10 matches in all competitions without a clean sheet for Torrent's side, who do not have fond memories of previous meetings with Barcelona.

Indeed, Barcelona have come up trumps in the last three meetings between the sides - the most recent one being a 3-1 Champions League group-stage win in 2002 - and Galatasaray's solitary triumph in this fixture came all the way back in 1994.

Team News

Barcelona will be forced to work around the absence of midfield starlet Gavi this week, as the 17-year-old must serve a one-game ban for picking up three yellow cards in European competition.

Ansu Fati, Sergi Roberto, Samuel Umtiti and Alejandro Balde all remain out injured for the Catalans, but Xavi does not have any fresh concerns to report from the victory at Elche.

Torres can expect a recall to the attack with Gavi suspended, while Sergino Dest will return to the defence in place of the ineligible Dani Alves.

As for Galatasaray, former first-choice goalkeeper Fernando Muslera is one booking away from incurring a one-game suspension, but Barcelona loanee Inaki Pena has seemingly cemented himself as Torrent's number one.

Experienced attacker Arda Turan is expected to miss out once more as he battles his way back from a groin strain, while Sofiane Feghouli and Kaan Arslan were also absent from the squad to face Konyaspor.

Halil Dervisoglu and Mostafa Mohamed are both battling to displace Bafetimbi Gomis up top at Camp Nou, and Omar Elabdellaoui is an option for change at right-back over Sacha Boey after his comeback from a freak eye injury.

Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Dest, Araujo, Pique, Alba; Pedri, Busquets, De Jong; Traore, Aubameyang, Torres

Galatasaray possible starting lineup:
Pena; Elabdellaoui, Marcao, Nelsson, Van Aanholt; Pulgar; Morutan, Kutlu, Cicaldau, Akturkoglu; Mohamed

We say: Barcelona 3-0 Galatasaray

Barcelona certainly appear to be finding their feet under Xavi and have had no problems on the goalscoring front recently - largely thanks to an extensive amount of options in the final third.

While Galatasaray have certainly improved under their new man at the helm, keeping the back door shut has not been their forte, and an in-form Blaugrana should claim a healthy first-leg advantage.

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