Galatasaray–Barça: Barcelona turn the tables on Osimhen's Galatasaray in Istanbul
Beaten 4–1 in Istanbul, Galatasaray had nonetheless led and thought they had gone two clear through a sequence involving Victor Osimhen. The goal disallowed for Barış Alper Yılmaz, then two Barcelona goals in three minutes after the break, changed the match.
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Victor Osimhen and Galatasaray remain pointless in the Champions League. On Tuesday 13 October, the Turkish club suffered a second defeat in two games, this time against Barcelona (1–4). The final score nonetheless masks a first half in which the Istanbul side made life difficult for Barça, before giving way as soon as they came back out after the interval.
In the 28th minute, Rafael Leão finds Aleksey Batrakov from the left flank. The midfielder opens the scoring. Osimhen, Mario Lemina and Ismail Jakobs, all starters, see Galatasaray take the lead against Barcelona.
An Osimhen header, but no second goal
From a Batrakov corner, Osimhen meets the ball with a header at the far post and Barış Alper Yılmaz completes the move. Galatasaray think they are 2–0 up. Video review intervenes: Yılmaz's goal is ruled out for offside. The score stays at 1–0.
The lead remains fragile. In the 43rd minute, João Cancelo equalises from a ball supplied by Dani Olmo. Instead of heading down the tunnel in front, Galatasaray find Barcelona level: 1–1.
Two goals in three minutes after the restart
The match then slips away from Okan Buruk's men. Fermín López heads in in the 50th minute from a Lamine Yamal cross. Three minutes later, Yamal sets up Anthony Gordon, who makes it 3–1. Karim Adeyemi adds the fourth goal in the 65th minute.
The disallowed goal does not on its own explain the gap. Barcelona finish with 22 shots, 11 of them on target, against five attempts and three on target for Galatasaray. The visitors created chance after chance; the Istanbul side found no response after the two goals in quick succession after the restart.
After two matchdays, Galatasaray have two defeats, while Barcelona have won both of their games. The next European date for Osimhen's club is 21 October, away at Lille. Galatasaray will be looking to pick up their first points there, after letting this match slip in the opening minutes of the second half.
Sources
Galatasaray match report ; AS, Santi Giménez ; El País, Ramon Besa ; Native match statistics on SNA, checked on 13 October 2026.
Illustration supplied to the newsroom for this article. Graphic montage using retouched visuals, not a documentary photograph of the match.