Galatasaray 1-4 Barcelona: Lamine Yamal sets up three as Barça run riot in Istanbul

Galatasaray led for 15 minutes in Istanbul and lost 4-1. Alexey Batrakov had put the home side ahead in the 28th minute, finishing a move set up by Rafael Leão, but Barcelona reeled off four goals of their own either side of half-time and were barely troubled again once João Cancelo pulled them level five minutes before the break.

Cancelo's equaliser, in the 43rd minute, came from a Dani Olmo pass. Barcelona then turned the game on its head in a five-minute spell straight after the restart: Fermín López headed in a Lamine Yamal cross in the 50th minute, and Anthony Gordon made it 3-1 three minutes later, also teed up by Yamal. Karim Adeyemi, on as a substitute, completed the scoring in the 65th minute without need of an assist, rounding off a result that flattered Galatasaray's opening quarter of an hour rather than reflected the 90 minutes as a whole.

A game Barcelona controlled almost throughout

The numbers make the eventual gap between the sides look, if anything, conservative. Barcelona had 71% of the possession to Galatasaray's 29%, out-shot the hosts on target 11 to 3, won six corners to Galatasaray's one, and completed 625 of 689 passes against a home side that managed only 202 of 273. Galatasaray's goal came against the shape of the match rather than because of it — a single moment of quality from Batrakov and Leão inside an opening period in which the hosts were otherwise second-best. Rafael Leão was booked in the 64th minute and Roland Sallai, introduced from the bench, picked up a yellow of his own in the 86th as the home side's night unravelled further in the closing stages.

Yamal's night: two assists, and involved in a third

Lamine Yamal's two assists took him to four across Barcelona's first two Champions League league-phase matches this season, after he had also set up two goals in the opening 5-1 win over Feyenoord. Few players in Europe are creating at that rate through the opening weeks of a league-phase campaign, and Barcelona's attack — already the most prolific in La Liga this season on goals scored — now has a Champions League return to match it. Barcelona have won every one of their first eight La Liga matches, by some distance the best record of any side in Spain's top flight this season, and nothing about this performance suggested the European stage is slowing that run down.

Galatasaray still searching for their first point

For Galatasaray, this is a second straight defeat in the league phase, after an opening 1-3 loss away at Sporting CP, and the Turkish champions have now conceded seven goals in two Champions League matches without registering a win. Victor Osimhen started up front but did not get on the scoresheet, and Galatasaray will need a response in their remaining league-phase fixtures if they are to avoid being cut adrift of the group that qualifies for the knockout play-offs.

Match facts

• 28' — Alexey Batrakov (Galatasaray), assist Rafael Leão
• 43' — João Cancelo (Barcelona), assist Dani Olmo
• 50' — Fermín López (Barcelona), assist Lamine Yamal, header
• 53' — Anthony Gordon (Barcelona), assist Lamine Yamal
• 65' — Karim Adeyemi (Barcelona)
• Rams Park, Istanbul — Champions League league phase, matchday 2, Tuesday 13 October 2026

What's next

Barcelona, who sit top of La Liga on 24 points from eight unbeaten games domestically, now take maximum points from their first two Champions League matches into a league phase that already looks like one of the favourites' to top. Galatasaray return to a Turkish Süper Lig campaign in better shape than their European one, but with real work still to do if they want any part of this season's Champions League knockout places.