FC Barcelona is preparing for its next Champions League match against Galatasaray, with the particularity that the Barça team will debut its second European kit on the pitch. The travel day opens with recovery training after the 3-0 victory over Getafe, which secured their eighth league win before returning to continental competition on Tuesday, October 21.
The trip to Istanbul is scheduled to start at 08:40 from the Joan Gamper Sports City in Sant Joan Despí. The charter flight, which takes off at 09:40, arrives in the Ottoman city at 2:20 p.m. local time, one hour less than in Spain, after a 3h40min flight. The arrival is coordinated with the official press conference of HansiFlick and PauCubarsí, which will be held at 4:45 p.m. Spanish time at the AliSamiYen stadium. Cubarsí, appointed by the club to attend to the local media, will accompany Flick at the conference.
The next day, at 5:30 p.m., the Barça players will meet for pre-match training. For its part, Galatasaray, leader of the Turkish League after its 3-1 victory over Kasımpaşa, will have its own press conference at 12:00 Spanish time, with coach OkanBuruk and a player yet to be defined. The Turkish training session will begin an hour later, in their own Sports City.
The Blaugranas' plan includes the use of the second kit of the season, a black t-shirt with a gradient that ends in purple, a color that is also reflected in the pants of the second edition of the Nike line of Kobe Bryant and the club. Barça has used this shirt only once this campaign, in the league opener against Elche, where they lost 0-5. The goal is to achieve the club's first away victory after its 5‑1 debut against Feyenoord.
With the absence of key players such as Raphinha, Andreas Christensen, Frenkie de Jong and Roony Bardghji, Flick's team will have to rely on its reserve squad and the experience of its starting players to face Galatasaray. The departure from the city of Barcelona and the arrival in Istanbul will mark the beginning of a new phase in Barça's European campaign, where the commitment to the second kit will be a distinctive element of its identity in the tournament.