Galatasaray led for 15 minutes, and Yamal set up two as Barcelona won 4-1 in Istanbul

For a quarter of an hour on Tuesday night in Istanbul, Barcelona’s perfect season was in trouble. Aleksey Batrakov, set up by Rafael Leão, put Galatasaray ahead at RAMS Park, and the home crowd thought they had a second before half-time, only for VAR to rule it out for offside after a long check.

By the 65th minute it was 4-1 to Barcelona. João Cancelo equalised just before the break. Then the game turned in 15 minutes: Fermín López headed in Lamine Yamal’s cross in the 50th minute, Anthony Gordon made it 3-1 three minutes later with his first Champions League goal for the club, and Karim Adeyemi finished a counter-attack for the fourth.

Ten wins from ten

Hansi Flick’s side have now won all ten of their matches in all competitions this season, eight in La Liga and two in Europe. They have nine Champions League goals already, and six points took them to the top of the league-phase table on Tuesday night. Galatasaray have lost both of their opening games and are still waiting for a point.

Yamal did not score and still ran the second half

Yamal’s cross picked out López for the second goal, and his trickery in the box opened the space for Gordon’s third. Flick made a point of it when he spoke to Movistar afterwards. “Lamine didn’t score today, but he did provide the final pass for two goals,” he said. “He’s an incredible player and very important for us.”

Flick was pleased with the result but not with everything. “In this stadium, with this atmosphere, it wasn’t easy, but I’m very happy,” he said. Then came the complaint: “we didn’t make good decisions in the final third. That’s something we need to improve.” It is an odd thing to fret about after ten straight wins, though the first 50 minutes in Istanbul, when Barcelona were behind or level, gave him a case.

What comes next

Barcelona visit Real Betis in La Liga on Saturday, 17 October (10pm IST), and then go to Paris Saint-Germain on matchday three. That game is on Tuesday, 20 October in Paris, which is 12:30am on Wednesday in India. Galatasaray go to Lille on Wednesday, 21 October, still looking for their first point.

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