Galatasaray director on Jordi Alba scene: ‘I had to hold Arda back’
GER ONLY Jordi Alba Barcelona Galatasaray Europa League 17032022
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Jordi Alba was thrown at by Galatasaray fans and then threw the ball into the stands. This made Arda Turan angry.
Offensive player Arda Turan stood in Galatasaray’s 2-1 Europa League round of 16 second leg defeat by FC Barcelona not even in the squad due to groin problems – but the 35-year-old was obviously fully involved emotionally.
In particular, the controversial scene surrounding Barca left-back Jordi Alba in the closing stages enraged Arda. Galatasaray fans had thrown objects at Alba when he was thrown in, which is why he initially did not execute it and the game was delayed by one to two minutes. When Alba then tried to take the throw-in again, but he was still thrown at from the stands, he quickly threw the ball into the ranks.
Galatasaray vs Barca: Arda ‘wanted to run onto the pitch’
“When Jordi Alba shot the ball into the stands, I had to stop Arda Turan,” Galatasaray director Dincer Azaphan said. “He wanted to run onto the pitch.”
The 2-1 defeat ultimately eliminated Galatasaray from the Europa League. Arda was also unable to help in the first leg against his former club from Spain, the former Turkey international has only played nine competitive games this season due to injury.
Arda had been under contract at Barca from 2015 to 2020 but had been loaned out to Basaksehir for two years during that period.