Barcelona visits the field of Turkish Galtasaray on Thursday (17h15 GMT) in search of the Europa League quarterfinals, before their crucial classic against Real Madrid in the league on Sunday.
The tie is completely open after the Barça could not make it past the goalless draw in the first leg at Camp Nou and play it all at the always complicated Ali Sami Yen stadium.
“Maybe against Galatasaray we thought everything would be easier,” said Barça coach Xavi Hernández on Sunday, after winning Osasuna 4-0 in an intense league match.
An excess of confidence that Barça is not willing to repeat in the rival's fief: “We have told ourselves that if we put this intensity we are able to compete against anyone. It's the way,” added Xavi.
The Barça coach will be able to count on all his figures against a Galatasaray whose gunner Kerem Akturkolu, his most outstanding man in the first leg, arrives at the match after scoring a double in the Istanbul derby against Beksitas.
- Looking at the classic -
For Barça, a victory would not only mean going to the quarterfinals of the Europa League, but a moral rearmament ahead of Sunday's classic league against Real Madrid, which has 15 points with ten rounds left before the end of the championship, although the culés have one less match.
Sevilla visits the English West Ham field with a slight advantage, after winning 1-0 in the first leg at Sánchez Pizjuán, but the Andalusians will not be able to neglect it.
“The swords are all over high. The tie is at 50% and we will try to recover to compete well,” said Seville coach Julen Lopetegui, after drawing 1-1 on Sunday's Rayo Vallecano field.
The Andalusian team, which has stuck in La Liga, where they have won only two of their last eight matches, shows a better face in Europe, where they hope to continue their journey in their favorite competition, which they have won six times, two of them when it was still the UEFA Cup.
The move to the quarterfinals of the Europa League would be an injection of encouragement for Sevilla, who are awaiting his losses, the last of which was Argentina's Marcos Acuña, who had to retire with discomfort in Vallecas.
Worse off than its neighbors in the Andalusian capital, Betis travels to Frankfurt to try to overcome the 2-1 defeat against Eintracht in the first leg.
- 'Go to win' -
The elimination this season of the double value of goals in the opposite field somewhat facilitates the mission of the Green-and-Whites, who would only need a little to send the tie to extra time.
Betis, struggling to get into Champions League positions, faces the lively match after beating Athletic Bilbao 1-0 last weekend in the Spanish championship.
“We have a team and mentality to go and win the match,” Betis defender Marc Bartra told his club's television, recalling that “we will be facing a rival who knows he is worth the tie, who breaks the game.”
Among the other contenders to move forward in the continental championship, the Italian Atalanta visits Bayer Leverkusen with the mission of defending the advantage gained by their 3-2 victory in the first leg.
The French Monaco receives the Portuguese Braga with the task of lifting the 2-0 against scored in the first leg in the Portuguese city.
— Programme of the second round of 16 of the Europa League (GMT hours):
Thursday:
(17h45) Red Star (SRB) - Rangers (SCO) (first leg: 0-3)
Mónaco (FRA) - Braga (POR) (0-2)
Bayer Leverkusen (GER) - Atalanta (ITA) (2-3)
Galatasaray (TUR) - Barcelona (ESP) (0-0)
(20h00) Lyon (FRA) - Oporto (POR) (1-0)
West Ham (ENG) - Sevilla (ESP) (0-1)
Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) - Betis (ESP) (2-1)
- Already qualified for rooms: RB Leipzig (GER)
gr/iga
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