At 7 p.m. Beijing time on February 25, the Europa League round of 16 draw was held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The latest draw results have been released, in which the much-watched La Liga giants Barcelona have met the Turkish Super League side Galatasaray. There is no doubt that Barca will be the one who is optimistic about the promotion.
This season's European competitions have been reformed, in addition to adding UEFA matches and eliminating the rules for knockout away goals, the Europa League has also added a play-off for the round of 16 knockouts. After the home-and-away matchup, teams including Barca and Atalanta successfully advanced to the round of 16, while Dortmund were eliminated by the rangers.
In this Europa League round of 16 draw, the top club in the group stage will be seeded teams, and they will run into clubs that have qualified for the round of 16 after two legs of play-offs. In terms of team strength, in fact, the average strength of non-seeded teams is stronger than that of seeded teams, but the former has experienced a fatigue battle of 2 rounds of play-offs, so it is inferior in physical reserves, which also greatly increases the unknown of the game.
Barca eliminated Napoli 5-3 on aggregate in the just-concluded play-offs, which can be described as a small upset. After all, in the first leg of the home game, Barca only drew 1-1 with their opponents and were able to successfully turn the tables in Italy, and Xavi's team gave the fans a new surprise.
After losing Messi, Barca's form has slipped significantly this season. In the league, they are struggling to be in the 4th place, but they are already 15 points away from the top rivals Real Madrid, and there is almost no possibility of winning the title. And the Copa del Rey and the Western Super Cup, Barca also have no chance to win the cup.
In the previous Champions League group stage, Barca's performance was also quite bad, only getting the third place in the group and failing to qualify for the knockout round. But coming to the Europa League may be a chance for Barca to win the title. The europa League teams have not been strong overall this season, and Barca are undoubtedly the number one favourites to win the title.
Among potential opponents, Galatasaray is the second-to-last team in terms of total value, only better than Red Star Belgrade. Barca were able to draw such a big package, which is also a lot of luck, which is also worthy of their efforts to eliminate Napoli. In the history of European warfare, Barça have played Galatasaray 8 times, with a score of 5 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, in an absolute leading position.
In history, Barca have never won the Europa League, and in the face of such an opportunity this season, it is clear that head coach Xavi will not miss it, which is also a good opportunity for the team to refuse the season four empty. Barca's Europa League round of 16 rounds of two matches will be held on March 11 and 17.
For Barca, who currently have only 2 tiers left to fight and no pressure to win the league, it may be a good choice to keep more energy in the Europa League. Once the season can be ended with a Europa League, it will definitely boost Harvey's credibility in the team.