Lamine Yamal shines and leads Barcelona to victory in Istanbul

10 official matches and 10 wins. No other set of numbers better defines the trajectory of this Barcelona team, which has started the season in steamroller mode. In these matches, they’ve scored 43 goals. It doesn’t matter whether Raphinha—their best player on the field so far—is there or not, and they can even afford the luxury of not having a designated striker up front, as they did at Rams Park, since the goals just keep coming. They struggled more than expected in the first half after falling behind 1-0, but then Lamine’s masterclass in the first 20 minutes of the second half decided the match. Is there a limit to this team’s potential? Having survived the hell of Istanbul, two very tough away matches—against Betis and PSG—await them before El Clásico, and that’s where their true strength will be tested. If they come through those with flying colors, we could be looking at a season to remember for a long time to come.

Gabriel Jesus was expected to start in Raphinha’s absence, but Flick opted to deploy Dani Olmo—who is very popular in Munich—as a false 9. And the move paid off once again for the German coach. Barça controlled the ball from the start; the constant boos from the stands were music to their ears, and before the 20th minute, Gordon and Fermín had already tested Çakir. Rafael Leao and Osimhen barely saw the ball, and that was part of Barça’s success; they focused their attacks down Gordon’s wing, as the Turks tried to take Lamine out of the game with constant provocation. It was an impossible task: the Barça No. 10’s first touch was a measured pass to Dani Olmo’s head, but he just missed connecting cleanly.

Cancelo, who’s been scoring spectacular goals for a month now, tried his luck from distance and forced Çakir to make a spectacular save. Everything seemed to be under control for Flick’s team, but they were dealt a blow in the most unexpected way. Following a Barça attack that might have warranted a penalty on Gordon, the Turks launched a counterattack in which Leao outran Eric and crossed the ball back for Batrakov to finish—the shot deflected off Cancelo and caught Joan García off guard. The Turkish side gained momentum, and things could have been much worse, as just a few minutes later Yilmaz made it 2-0 off a corner kick that Osimhen had touched. But VAR stepped in, ruling that the Turkish player was offside.

The game took a complete turn, but just as the Turks were playing their best, the equalizer came on a shot by Cancelo off a low pass from Dani Olmo. Barça regrouped, and in stoppage time of the first half, Gordon had a chance to make it 1-2.

A dominant performance after the break

Barça came out determined to win the game in the second half, and just a minute in, Lamine set up a scoring chance for Gordon, who incredibly shot wide. Yamal continued to make sporadic appearances, but always posed a threat. And that’s exactly what happened five minutes in, when another precise cross—one that was very difficult to defend—was headed in by Fermín from close range to make it 1-2. Lamine was on fire and looked to make it 1-3 with a shot that sailed over the bar. With the Turkish team in disarray, Lamine pulled off an impossible play along the goal line—he was lucky with his first touch but managed to set up Gordon, who finally found the back of the net after numerous missed chances.

With the score in their favor, Flick took out Gabriel Jesus and Adeyemi. No big deal. And as soon as they both came off, another pass from Lamine led to a poor first touch by Gabriel Jesus, which set up Adeyemi to beat Çakir with a cross-goal shot. Lamine was taunted by the Turkish players in the first half, but their provocation only served to spur him on to put on a show in the second half, leading Barça to another rout. And the margin of victory could have been even greater had Adeyemi’s shot not been cleared off the line. The tenth victory for an unstoppable Barça: bring on the next opponent.