Victor Osimhen played the full 90 minutes on his return to the Galatasaray starting line-up on Tuesday night, but Barcelona came from behind to win 4-1 at RAMS Park. His header from a corner was turned in by Barış Alper Yılmaz for 2-0. VAR ruled it out.
| At a glance | Details |
|---|---|
| Result | Galatasaray 1-4 Barcelona |
| Competition | Champions League, matchday two |
| Scorers | Batrakov 28′; Cancelo 43′, López 50′, Gordon 53′, Adeyemi 65′ |
| Osimhen | 90 minutes, 1 shot, 6 offsides |
| Galatasaray | Two games, zero points |
| Next in Europe | Lille away, 21 October |
Forty minutes of hope
For a while, an upset looked possible. Rafael Leão broke down the left in the 28th minute and cut the ball back for Aleksey Batrakov. His deflected shot beat Joan García.
Then came the big moment. Osimhen nodded a deep corner across goal at the back post and Yılmaz bundled it in, but after a long VAR check the officials ruled that the full-back had strayed beyond the last defender when the Nigerian made contact with the ball.
Barcelona punished the reprieve. João Cancelo levelled two minutes before the break.
The second half was one-way traffic. Lamine Yamal crossed for Fermín López to head in after 50 minutes. He then set up Anthony Gordon. Karim Adeyemi drilled in the fourth on 65 minutes.
A frustrating night for Osimhen
This was his first start since a right adductor strain against İstanbul Başakşehir in September. That injury kept him out of the 3-1 defeat at Sporting CP on matchday one and out of Nigeria's first 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. He was back in the squad for the win over Kasımpaşa on Friday.
Barcelona's young back line never let him settle.
ESPN's match data credited him with 12 touches and one shot, a blocked header. The flag went up against him six times. Twice García rushed off his line to end his runs in behind.
Hansi Flick, whose side have won all 10 games this season, was delighted. “It's the Champions League and it was a top performance from us,” he told his news conference.
What comes next for Galatasaray
Okan Buruk still looked back at the ruled-out goal. “If we had found the second goal and gone 2-0 up, maybe it would have been a very different match for us,” the coach told the broadcaster, according to the club's website.
Gala have no points from two games. ESPN's table had them 34th of 36 after Tuesday.
They visit Gençlerbirliği on Saturday, then Lille.
For Nigeria, the main thing is that Osimhen finished the game without a fresh injury scare, which matters to Eric Chelle as the Super Eagles push on in a qualifying group that also contains Tanzania, Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau. ESPN noted in September that he sat two goals short of Rashidi Yekini's national record of 37. His record against Spanish sides did not get any better here.
GoalBall's preview called this his biggest test since the injury. Sharpness should come with minutes.
This article was most recently revised and updated 17 seconds ago
