Barcelona are through to the Europa League quarterfinals after an impressive 2-1 win at Galatasaray on Thursday in the second leg of the round of 16. After a scoreless draw in the first leg, Barca advanced on aggregate, 2-1, stretching the team's unbeaten streak to 11 games and keeping their silverware aspirations alive.
An encouraging start for the hosts saw Galatasaray take a 1-0 lead just 28 minutes in as they controlled the tempo with a ferocious crowd supporting them. It was Brazilian defender Marcao who headed home on a corner kick for the narrow advantage and temporary lead in the tie 28 minutes. But from there, Barca came to life.
With an attack that has been averaging over two goals per game over their last 15 matches, they managed a goal on either side of half time to gain full control and probably should have put away a third.
Young superstar Pedri managed to pull Barca level less than 10 minutes after going down, producing this fine effort:
With all of the momentum behind them, it took just four minutes of the second half to get their first lead of the tie. A wild sequence that featured two fantastic saves by Galatasaray's Inaki Pena led to Aubameyang finishing from close to make it 2-1. Pena, Galatasaray's young Spanish goalkeeper, is actually at the club on loan from Barcelona.
In the end, this was a deserved result for Barca, but it may have come at a cost to both the club and the United States men's national team. Right back Sergino Dest, who was set to play a big part in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, picked up what looked like a muscular injury in the second half and could not continue. It's unclear what his status is moving forward, but it's an issue both Xavi and USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter, who is expected to announce his roster later in the day, will have to deal with together. You can catch Barca's Europa League run and two of final the three USMNT qualifiers on Paramount+.