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Barcelona scored four times in 37 minutes after conceding first to beat Galatasaray 4-1 in the UEFA Champions League league phase, deepening the Turkish side’s difficult start to the competition.
Galatasaray took the lead through Alexey Batrakov in the 28th minute, but Barcelona answered with goals from João Cancelo, Fermin Lopez, Anthony Gordon and substitute Karim Adeyemi. The match listing shows Galatasaray at 0-0-2 with no points and Barcelona at 2-0-0 with six.
Barcelona dominated the opening half hour, with Gordon, Cancelo and Lamine Yamal all testing Galatasaray goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir or firing wide. Galatasaray appeared to have gained little from the early play, with Victor Osimhen flagged offside repeatedly.
The hosts broke the deadlock on a fast break. Rafael Leão set up Batrakov, whose right-footed shot from the centre of the box found the bottom left corner to make it 1-0 in the 28th minute.
Six minutes later, Baris Alper Yilmaz put the ball in the net after Batrakov’s cross and an Osimhen header that was blocked, but the goal was overturned after a video review for offside. Galatasaray’s Yunus Akgün then forced a save from Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García in the 37th minute.
Barcelona equalized in the 43rd minute. Dani Olmo set up Cancelo, who struck a right-footed shot from the left side of the box into the bottom right corner to make it 1-1.
Barcelona pressed again in stoppage time at the end of the first half, with Gordon and Olmo both forcing saves from Cakir. The teams went into the break level.
Barcelona seized control early in the second half. Yamal delivered a corner and Fermin Lopez headed it into the bottom right corner in the 50th minute to make it 2-1.
Three minutes later, Yamal supplied Gordon, who scored from the right side of the six-yard box into the bottom right corner for 3-1. Yamal was involved in both goals.
Galatasaray made four changes in the 58th minute, bringing on Leroy Sané, Gabriel Sara and Lesley Ugochukwu for Yunus Akgün, Batrakov and Mario Lemina. Barcelona also made changes, with Adeyemi replacing Gordon in the 59th minute.
Adeyemi added the fourth in the 65th minute with a left-footed shot from the left side of the box into the centre of the goal, making it 4-1.
Galatasaray received two yellow cards, Leão in the 64th minute and Roland Sallai in the 86th, both for bad fouls. Lucas Torreira went off injured after a delay in the 79th minute and was replaced by Renato Nhaga.
Barcelona continued to create chances late on. Gabriel Jesus had a shot saved by Cakir in the 83rd minute, and Adeyemi had an attempt blocked in the 85th. Galatasaray’s best late effort came from Ugochukwu, whose shot from outside the box in the 74th minute was saved by García.
The game ended 4-1 after three minutes of added time.
The league phase is the Champions League’s format in which each club plays a set of matches against different opponents in a single table, rather than the former group stage.
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