Yamal cocked his right leg back as if to swing a rabona, then at the last instant pulled the kick in and rolled the ball across the six-yard box with the outside of the same boot. Eren Elmali had already thrown his weight the other way. Gordon arrived at the near post and finished from the tightest of angles.

The clip was everywhere within an hour of the final whistle at RAMS Park on Tuesday night.

Yamal has been reluctant to let the move be labeled a full rabona. He described it instead as a half-rabona that came entirely on instinct, and said he was lucky it worked for Gordon.

Three goals in 15 second-half minutes

Barcelona needed the trickery. Aleksey Batrakov had put Galatasaray ahead on 28 minutes, and only Joao Cancelo’s strike before the interval kept the away side level in a stadium noisy enough to shake the bench.

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Fermin Lopez broke the deadlock on 50 minutes, heading in a Yamal cross. Three minutes later came the half-rabona and Gordon’s near-post finish, his first Champions League goal for Barcelona since his summer transfer from Newcastle. Karim Adeyemi added a fourth on 65.

Yamal was named player of the match with two assists and a 9/10 player rating.

Flick: ‘incredible player’

“Lamine didn’t score today, but he did provide the final pass for two goals,” Hansi Flick said after the match.

“He’s an incredible player and very important for us.”

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The German manager was asked about the atmosphere in Istanbul.

“In this stadium, with this atmosphere, it wasn’t easy, but I’m very happy,” Flick said.

Barcelona have now won all ten of their competitive fixtures this season, eight in La Liga and both in the Champions League league phase after the 5-1 Matchday 1 win over Feyenoord in September. They sit top of La Liga.

Thirteen days until London

The timing is pointed. The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony takes place at the London Palladium on Monday, Oct 26, the first time the award will be handed out in London. Harry Kane and Yamal are seen as the two leading candidates for the men’s prize, with Kylian Mbappe, Rodri and Lionel Messi completing the top five.

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Yamal finished second to Ousmane Dembele last year. Voting for this edition closed on Sept 28, which means Istanbul does not count toward any ballot already cast. What it supplies is a last piece of highlight-reel evidence for anyone still arguing the case either way, 13 days before the envelope is opened.

The 19-year-old played all 90 minutes against Galatasaray. The ceremony at the London Palladium starts at 8pm local time on Oct 26.

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