Flick says 1-0 would suffice as Barcelona visit Galatasaray

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick says he would be satisfied with a 1-0 victory at Galatasaray on Tuesday, despite his side’s prolific start to the season. The Spanish champions travel to Istanbul for their Champions League match without Raphinha and face a home crowd Flick expects to make their task difficult.

Barcelona have won all nine of their matches across all competitions this season, scoring 39 goals. They opened the Champions League league phase with a 5-1 win over Feyenoord, but Flick is not demanding another high-scoring result at Galatasaray’s Rams Park stadium.

Form meets a difficult away trip

The visit to the Turkish champions begins a run of tougher fixtures for Barcelona, with Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid also coming up. Galatasaray’s home stadium, sometimes nicknamed “Hell”, presents an immediate test for a team that has scored more than four goals per game on average this season.

Barcelona have scored at least three goals in every match since their 2-0 La Liga win over Athletic Bilbao on Aug 27. Flick, however, stressed on Monday that the result matters more than maintaining that scoring rate.

“The only thing we want is to win, this is our goal, this is what we want,” he told reporters. “I’m also happy if we win just 1-0, because to see this team, how they play, how they play out (from the back), they like to play football.”

Flick expects strong home support

Flick singled out the atmosphere at Rams Park as something Barcelona must prepare for. “First of all, we have to be ready for this atmosphere,” he said.

“I think this is one of the best atmospheres ever in the world. It’s amazing when I hear some situations or the sounds of the stadium, what the fans are doing, it’s unbelievable.”

Flick said the Turkish champions have improved and have shown they can compete with big teams, particularly with their supporters behind them.

What comes next

Tuesday’s match will show whether Barcelona can extend their perfect start against Galatasaray in Istanbul. They must do so without Raphinha before turning to the upcoming fixtures against Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid.

For Flick, the immediate aim is straightforward: secure the win, even if it takes only one goal. As he put it, Galatasaray have “fantastic players” in attack and are “not easy to play against”, especially at home.