The demons dress in blue and garnet in the Turkish hell

BarcelonaThere is no stadium or stage that intimidates Flick's Barça, which smiles with a sharp grin after counting all of this season's matches as victories: ten out of ten, the second in the Champions League. Nor did the Turkish hell of Galatasaray's stronghold, a team that lives by being strong at home, impress the Blaugrana, who responded to the whistles and local shouting by dominating the ball and signing a new comeback led by Lamine Yamal's assists (1-4).

Barça did not take long to detect the weakest link of Galatasaray, a team with gunpowder in the attack, but very fragile in defense. The right side of the defense, occupied by Baris Alper, a full-back with more soul of a winger than a defender, was a gap through which Gordon and Cancelo began to show their faces. Olmo also hovered around the goal. The player from Terrassa, who has chained two starts after his return from the international break, was in charge of filling Raphinha's void. He almost scored the first, after a header, forced and complicated, but which for an instant recalled the beautiful goal that Messi scored with his head in the 2009 Champions League final.

The Azulgranas dominated overwhelmingly for almost the first half hour, but just when it seemed like it was only a matter of minutes before Flick's side would break the deadlock, the angels descended into the hell of Istanbul to ally themselves with Galatasaray. In a counter-attacking play, preceded by an action in which Gordon appealed for a penalty, Rafael Leão, the former Milan player, exhibited his power to overcome Eric and provide a pass to the edge of the box that was collected by Batrakov. The young Russian attacking midfielder, who has publicly acknowledged that his dream would be to play for Barça, was lucky because his shot was deflected by Cancelo after he slipped.

These were the only minutes of the match in which the Azulgranas truly suffered. Indeed, technology saved them from seeing Galatasaray pull away on the scoreboard because an offside reviewed by VAR denied a second goal to the hosts. Osimhen won the header against a soft Rodri and Cubarsí from a corner kick and brought down a ball that Baris Alper, in an offside position by a foot, sent into the back of the net.

Cancelo equalizes just before halftime

Fueled by the 1-0, the Turks had started to believe it. Their joy lasted little, because a Cancelo who was returning to the starting lineup appeared. The local fans whistled and whistled, making the eardrums of both locals and strangers burst. While Pedri, with the captain's armband, asked for the ball and calm, demanding his teammates to return to playing football with their heads, a balsamic equalizer arrived at the gates of halftime.

Lamine stepped on the edge of the area and, in a swift action, while the number 10 was complaining about a foul, Olmo was cunning enough to recover the ball and pass it to Cancelo. Although Gordon was offside, the Portuguese, all heart, all faith, slipped into the area to finish with a museum-worthy curl in front of Çakır. With the equalizer, their legs stopped shaking, and Gordon and Olmo were the first to look to steer the comeback, but Çakır's saves kept the 1-1 until halftime.

The Lamine Yamal show begins

The second half started lively, with Lamine Yamal reminding everyone why he is a candidate to win the Ballon d'Or. A delightful wall pass with Fermín and a trademark cross with the outside of his boot that Gordon could not capitalize on. The winger from Rocafonda was at it again immediately: another cross, this time kissing the ball with the inside of his foot so that, in the heart of the area, Fermín could come in to steer the umpteenth Blaugrana comeback.

Lamine, who had been quiet throughout the first half, decided he would take charge of sealing the tenth victory of the season. After setting up the second for Fermín,he invented a fantasy dribble, which looked more like a ballet step than a football move to, with a little luck, assist Gordon once again. This time, from point-blank range, the Briton did not miss and scared off the ghosts that had denied him a goal until then.

Job done before match time. Flick allowed himself the luxury of activating breaks and the substitutes maintained the competitive tone. It was of no use for Galatasaray to try to bite at the blue and red ball exit, sometimes confusing intensity with aggression, because the fourth one fell very soon. A faulty control from Gabriel Jesus was picked up by Adeyemi to seal the deal. The Turkish hell wanted to burn under the Istanbul rain, but the demons dressed in blue and red