Photo: Collected
Barcelona beat Galatasaray 4-1 at their own ground in the Champions League on Tuesday. In the heated atmosphere of Istanbul’s Ali Sami Yen Stadium, the Catalan club and Lamine Yamal found their rhythm after a difficult first half.
In the second half the hosts’ defence was virtually torn apart by Yamal.
With half of the second-round matches of the Champions League completed, Barcelona are top of the points table with two wins in a row. Galatasaray, however, are yet to open their account; they are towards the bottom of the table.
Barcelona were dominant from the start. With Yamal kept under close guard on the right flank, most of their attacks were built on the opposite flank through Anthony Gordon.
Galatasaray went ahead in the 27th minute nonetheless. When Gordon went down in the penalty box, the hosts broke quickly on the counter down the left flank led by Rafael Leao.
From Leao’s pass at the edge of the box, Russian player Alexei Batrakov’s shot struck Joao Cancelo, changed direction and went into the net.
Having scored, the hosts became even more attacking. From a corner, Victor Osimhen’s header beat goalkeeper Joan Garcia, but the goal was ruled out because Baris Yilmaz was offside when he took the ball over the goal line with a touch of his foot.
Barcelona then took hold of the match again. When Yamal went down at the edge of the box, Davinson Sanchez got the ball but lost control of it immediately. The ball went to Dani Olmo, and Cancelo scored from his pass.
Yamal took the match into his own hands from the start of the second half. Gordon got a chance from his pass but could not make use of it. In the 50th minute, however, Fermin headed home from Yamal’s perfectly bent cross to put Barcelona ahead.
Three minutes later, beating Eren Elmali three times in a small space with three different tricks, Yamal played the ball to Gordon in front of goal. This time the England striker made no mistake.
In the 65th minute, cutting inside from his own flank, Yamal passed to substitute centre forward Gabriel Jesus. The former Arsenal forward could not keep the ball under control, but it struck an opposition player and ran to Karim Adeyemi, who sent it into the net with a powerful shot.
Yamal could have scored himself; but his shot, taken after rushing forward to win the ball, went over the crossbar.
So the 19-year-old finished the match without a goal. Had he scored, he could have moved closer to the record of Kylian Mbappe, the holder of the record for most Champions League goals as a teenager.
