Anthony Gordon netted his first Champions League goal for Barcelona as the Spanish club fought back from behind to defeat Galatasaray in Istanbul.
Barcelona tried to snuff out the heated atmosphere from the start by dominating possession, yet they fell behind following Galatasaray’s first real attack.
Moments after Gordon’s penalty appeals were waved away, Rafael Leao surged down the left flank and pulled the ball back toward Aleksey Batrakov, who located the bottom corner with a deflection off Joao Cancelo.
Six minutes later, Galatasaray believed they had doubled their advantage when Baris Alper Yilmaz turned Victor Osimhen’s header beyond Joan Garcia, but the goal was ruled out for a tight offside following a video assistant referee (VAR) review.
Barcelona regained their composure and quietened the raucous home crowd two minutes before half-time, when Dani Olmo’s deflection sent the ball into the path of Joao Cancelo, who curled a shot into the corner beyond Turkish goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir.
Whatever frailties the visitors displayed in the first half disappeared swiftly after the interval, as Hansi Flick’s team struck twice in rapid succession.
In the 50th minute, Fermin Lopez headed home from a Lamine Yamal cross, and just three minutes later, a superb moment of close control from the latter allowed Gordon to drill in his first Champions League goal for Barcelona, only three days after scoring for the club for the first time.
Karim Adeyemi, another summer arrival, came on for Gordon and lashed in Barcelona’s fourth goal from the left side of the box after Gabriel Jesus laid a Lamine Yamal cross into his path.
Under Flick, Barcelona have netted 84 goals across 28 Champions League games, giving them the best goals-per-game average (3) in the competition for any club with 20 or more matches under a single manager since 1992-93.
Barcelona sit on six points after a 5-1 demolition of Feyenoord in their league phase opener and will now head to France to take on Paris St-Germain on Tuesday, 20 October.
Following a 3-1 defeat to Sporting CP last month, Turkish Super Lig leaders Galatasaray will aim for their first win of the campaign when they meet Lille on Wednesday, 21 October.
