Barcelona held 0-0 by Galatasaray, Sevilla beat West Ham in EL

Barcelona: Barcelona's newfound attacking verve vanished as the club was held to a 0-0 draw by Galatasaray at Camp Nou in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League.

Barcelona is having a miserable season but had shown signs of recovery lately by winning four straight games in all competitions and scoring a combined 14 goals in that stretch.

But playing in Europe's second-tier competition after failing to advance to the Champions League knockout stages for the first time since 2004, the Spanish giant couldn't come closer to a goal than when Frenkie de Jong hit the post.

Barca now faces a tricky return leg in Turkey in the only competition it still has a realistic chance of winning.

Barcelona is out of the Copa del Rey and trails Spanish league leader Real Madrid by 15 points.

Earlier, Moroccan forward Munir scored in the second half to give six-time Europa League champion Sevilla a 1-0 win over West Ham.

Sevilla's experience proved the difference against a team playing its first European knockout game in 40 years as the English side couldn't take its chances in an evenly balanced game at the Ram n S nchez Pizju n Stadium, which will host the final

in May.