Barcelona and Lamine Yamal rediscovered their sparkle after a rocky first-half spell against Galatasaray to win 4-1 in their UEFA Champions League match in Turkiye. Yamal tore the hosts apart after half-time at Istanbul’s Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Galatasaray’s cauldron, on Tuesday. Galatasaray are pointless and near the foot of the standings.
We have to keep going; the season is very long. We can’t relax,” Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez told a Spanish broadcaster. Barcelona dominated the early stages.
With Yamal vigorously policed on the right by the home defence, many of their attacks flowed through Anthony Gordon on the other flank. Yet Galatasaray took the lead after 27 minutes. After Gordon went tumbling in the penalty box, the hosts launched a rapid counterattack through Rafael Leao on the left.
He pulled the ball back to the edge of the area to Russian Aleksey Batrakov, whose drive deflected off Joao Cancelo and into the corner of the goal. But we knew how to react and come back,” said Fermin. That ignited a spell of furious home pressure which culminated in Victor Osimhen rising to head a corner past goalkeeper Joan Garcia.
Baris Yilmaz toed the ball over the line but was ruled offside. Barcelona reasserted control. When Yamal went down on the edge of the box, the ball broke to a surprised Davinson Sanchez, who gave the ball away immediately.
It fell to Dani Olmo, who threaded a pass to Cancelo, who scored. At the start of the second half, Yamal took over. After setting up Gordon, who spurned the chance, he helped put Barca ahead in the 50th minute, placing a gentle curled cross on the forehead of Fermin, who nodded home.
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