Barcelona continues its streak of 17 consecutive games in the Champions League without scoring a goal, after the 1-0 defeat against Galatasaray in Istanbul. The goal of the Turkish team, scored in the 28th minute by Russian playmaker Aleksey Batrakov, closed the day and prolonged the bad European luck of the Catalans, who have not managed to score since April 5, 2025, when they beat Borussia Dortmund 4-0 in the first leg of the quarterfinals.
The match was decided after a series of opportunities that Barça failed to convert. The Spanish players, including Anthony Gordon, Fermín López and Dani Olmo, had several chances inside the Galatasaray area, but none of them resulted in a goal. The Catalan team's only attack came when defender Joao Cancelo, after a struggle with Joan Garcia, deflected the ball towards the net area, where Batrakov took advantage of the confusion to finish and score the decisive goal. The 21-year-old Russian forward had expressed in previous interviews his dream of playing at the Camp Nou, which made the result even more unexpected for the club's fans.
Before the goal materialized, Barcelona had claimed a penalty on Anthony Gordon after a shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Italian midfielder Marco Guida. The referee, however, saw no foul and the penalty was not awarded. The home goalkeeper, Ügurcan Çakir, took advantage of the error to quickly get the ball out and get the Barça defense going, although Galatasaray's goal once again opened the gap in Barça's scoring table.
This defeat marks Barcelona's second in the current edition of the Champions League, with both matches played to date without the team having scored. The negative streak has extended throughout the season, with the last game in which Barça managed to score being on April 9, 2025 against Dortmund. The lack of goals in Europe continues to be a point of concern for the technical management and the fans, who hope for an improvement in the club's offense in the coming games.
With the elimination of Galatasaray, Barcelona faces the need to review its offensive strategy before the next matches in the competition. The club will have to decide whether to maintain the current lineup or make changes to break the streak of 17 games without a goal in the Champions League. The upcoming matches will determine whether the team can reverse this trend and become a dominant contender again in the group stage and beyond.