Lamine Yamal is the best player in the world, and if you needed a Tuesday night in Istanbul to settle it for you, fine, now it's settled. Barcelona won 4-1 at Galatasaray in the Champions League, and the scoreline tells you almost nothing about how the game actually felt until Yamal took it over.
Galatasaray led first. Aleksey Batrakov put the hosts in front in the 28th minute at a Rams Park that was doing everything a hostile European ground is supposed to do. For a long stretch this was a real contest, with a Turkish side that competed and believed it had a route to an upset. João Cancelo dragged Barcelona level on the stroke of half-time, and the teams went in at 1-1 with the night still in the balance.
Then the second half happened, and it stopped being a football match. Anthony Gordon scored in the 53rd minute for his first European goal in Barcelona colors, and the way Yamal teed it up should be shown to kids who want to learn the game. He faked a rabona, never even needing to hit it, then wrapped his leg around the ball, froze a defender who had done nothing wrong except exist in front of him, and rolled a pass that made the finish look inevitable. That's a player toying with a serious opponent in a serious competition and having fun doing it.
Two assists on the night, and the rout flowed through him. Galatasaray's press had legs for forty-five minutes and nothing left for the next forty-five. The moment the space opened, Yamal and Cancelo poured through it.
Hansi Flick won the tactical half. A Barcelona side that looked stretched and occasionally sloppy before the break came out with width and pace unlocked, and the game tilted so hard it never tilted back. Flick set the conditions for that. He's done versions of this all season, and Barcelona's unbeaten start to their domestic campaign hasn't happened by accident.
You'll hear the objection: Galatasaray scored first and hung around, so crowning anyone the best on earth off one highlight is overreach. This was a young forward dictating the terms of a Champions League tie against decent opposition, in their building, while they were still in the game, and then calmly dismantling them once his manager handed him the room. The case was made over ninety minutes, with the best fifteen stamped on it.
By full time this was not a competitive match. Galatasaray earned their early lead and their noise, and it bought them nothing, because the best player alive was on the other side and he wanted to perform. Anyone still putting another name at the top of the list after this is arguing with their own eyes.
