Barça held 0-0 by Galatasaray; Sevilla edge West Ham 1-0

Sports Desk, Mar 10 (EFE).- Barcelona were dominant Thursday against Galatasaray in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie, yet a tremendous performance ion goal by Barça loanee Iñaki Peña allowed the Turkish side to come away from Camp Nou with a 0-0 result.

Earlier Thursday in the opposite corner of Spain, six-time Europa League winners Sevilla bested West Ham United 1-0 to take a narrow lead in the fight for a quarterfinal berth.

After an impressive victory over Serie A title contenders Napoli in the round of 32, Barcelona were expected to have little trouble with Galatasaray, a storied club now languishing in 12th place in the Turkish first division.

The hosts had 69 percent possession and outshot Galatasaray 15-3, but Peña marked his return to Camp Nou by twice denying Memphis Depay in the first half.

The visiting keeper was just as good after the break, tipping a Sergio Busquets header over the cross-bar and turning aside a shot from Frenkie de Jong, who went on to hit the post in the 75th minute.

Bafetimi Gomis put the ball past Barcelona keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the 79th minute, only to see the offside flag go up.

Unable to exploit the home advantage, Barça must now prevail next week in Istanbul.

Like Barcelona, Sevilla had more of the ball and more chances against West Ham, but the Premier League side came the closest to scoring in the first half, as Nikola Vlasic forced home keeper Bounou into action on two occasions.

What would prove to be the only goal came on a set piece. Marcos Marcos Acuña floated a free kick to Munir El Haddadi at the far post and the striker beat keeper Alphonse Areola.

The narrow advantage means that Sevilla will have their work cut out for them next week in London. EFE

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