Galatasaray 1-4 Barcelona: Flick's side earn comeback win as Fermín & Gordon score

Lamine Yamal delivered a creative masterclass in the Champions League as Barcelona came from behind to win 4-1 away at Galatasaray.

Match Report

Aleksey Batrakov's 28th-minute opener had Barca on the ropes on Tuesday, before Baris Alper Yilmaz saw a headed finish ruled out after a VAR check.

But Hansi Flick's side roared back with Joao Cancelo's first-half leveller, before Yamal teed up both Fermin Lopez and Anthony Gordon after the interval to make it two wins in as many European games for Barca.

Gordon had earlier seen a great opening go amiss after Ugurcan Cakir denied him from Pedri's lofted throughball, while Dani Olmo wasted a free header from Yamal's cross as Barca dominated the opening stages.

Those misses came back to haunt Barcelona when Rafael Leao cut back for Batrakov, whose right-footed drive from the edge of the box beat Joan Garcia with a slight deflection off Cancelo.

Galatasaray thought they had doubled their lead six minutes later. Yilmaz headed home from Victor Osimhen's flick after Batrakov's left-sided corner, only for the full-back to be found offside after a VAR review.

That reprieve paid dividends for Barca just before half-time when Olmo stole possession from Davinson Sanchez and teed up Cancelo to curl his leveller into the far corner.

Gordon should have put Barcelona ahead early into the second half, but somehow steered off target after Yamal laid on a glorious chance for his fellow winger.

But they did not have to wait too long to take the lead as Fermin stooped to head into the bottom-right corner from Yamal's dinked delivery in the 50th minute.

Yamal claimed another assist three minutes later, displaying silky feet down the right before offloading for Gordon to thrash in low at Cakir's near post.

The Spain winger was heavily involved in Barca's fourth, too. Gabriel Jesus' heavy touch from Yamal's throughball rolled through for Karim Adeyemi, who hammered past Cakir's left hand.

Yamal blazed over another late chance, while Adeyemi fired into the side netting as Barca eased to yet another victory.

Defensive frailty no problem for free-scoring Barca

Barcelona have thrashed any opponent that has come into their sight so far this season, scoring a ridiculous 34 goals to stay perfect after eight LaLiga games.

Flick's side also crushed Feyenoord 5-1 in their opener in this competition, but the first half on Tuesday marked arguably their toughest test yet.

Galatasaray gleefully exploited a leaky Barca defence early on. They failed to keep a clean sheet in last season's entire Champions League campaign, and are yet to record a shutout in this season as well (14 games in total).

But down the other end, Barcelona excelled once again, despite missing talisman Raphinha. The Blaugrana have now scored 84 in 28 Champions League games under Flick.

Yamal was central to their attacking success, laying on a remarkable five chances, while also firing off a game-leading five shots (level with Gordon).

Another creative clinic brought two Yamal assists in a single match for an eighth time across all competitions with Barca, with four of those instances coming this season.

His world-class ability helped Barca carve out 2.83 expected goals (xG) to their hosts' 0.43, but tougher challenges await as Barcelona travel to reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain next Tuesday.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

6' Olmo makes a run into the box and his shot is saved

13' Yamal is tackled, triggering a clash between both teams

16' Match Event for Galatasaray vs Barcelona

24' Olmo heads it wide

26' Cancelo's shot is saved

27' GOAL! Leão breaks down the left and crosses, Batrakov fires home! Galatasaray 1-0 Barcelona

36' Osimhen's header is ruled out for offside

38' Akgün's shot is gathered by García

43' GOAL! Cancelo makes a run down the left and scores! Galatasaray 1-1 Barcelona (João Cancelo)

Line-ups

Galatasaray XI: Lemina, Sanchez, Torreira, Uğurcan Çakır, Osimhen, Akgun, Leao, Ismail Jakobs, Barış Alper Yılmaz, Eren Elmalı, Aleksey Batrakov

Subs: Gundogan, Abdülkerim Bardakcı, Sane, Roland Sallai, Gabriel Sara, L. Ugochukwu, El Chadaille Bitshiabu, Jankat Yılmaz, Deniz Gül, Enes Emre Büyük, Berat Luş, Renato Nhaga

Barcelona XI: Cancelo, Olmo, Rodri, Eric Garcia, Gordon, Pedri, Joan García, Fermín López, Yamal, Gerard Martín, Cubarsi

Subs: Szczesny, D. Livaković, Jesus, Kounde, Adeyemi, Balde, Gavi, Brian Fariñas, Bernal, Xavi Espart, Hamza Abdelkarim