Saviola double earns Barca hard-fought 2-2 draw
Argentine striker Javier Saviola crashed in two second-half goals as Barcelona recovered from a poor first half to claim a 2-2 draw against a Galatasaray side that finished with nine men on Wednesday.
Argentine striker Javier Saviola crashed in two second-half goals as Barcelona recovered from a poor first half to claim a 2-2 draw against a Galatasaray side that finished with nine men on Wednesday.
Barca could find none of the free-flowing football of the 3-1 win over Liverpool in their opening Champions League group B game, as Galatasaray took a 2-0 lead with first-half goals from Umit Karan and Andres Fleurquin.
The Catalans fought back well, however, and fully deserved the draw that kept them top of the group with four points from two games, ahead of AS Roma and Galatasaray, who both have two points, and Liverpool (1).
Saviola reduced the arrears within four minutes of the restart, turning in after Marc Overmars had sent a Gerard cross back into the area.
Brazilian defender Capone was sent off on 62 minutes for a late challenge on Rivaldo and Saviola put Barca level four minutes later, firing in from the Brazilian forward's clever assist.
The home side pressed forward relentlessly but could not find a winner. Hakan Unsal became the second Galatasaray player to be sent off as he received a second yellow card in the dying seconds.
Barca have been struggling in the Spanish league since that fine win at Anfield and they were soon in trouble again.
Ergun Penbe made some space on the left and crossed into the middle where Umit managed to toe-poke the ball past Roberto Bonano to make it 1-0, despite a strong challenge from Patrik Andersson.
Playmaker Xavi was struggling to find his forwards and Barca could manage little better than a couple of long-range shots, easily saved by Faryd Mondragon.
It was no real surprise wen Galatasaray added to their lead four minutes before the break, Fleurquin converting a rebound after Umit's powerful header was saved.
Carles Rexach reshaped his midfield for the second half, bringing on Gerard in place of Xavi and Dutch winger Overmars to replace Fabio Rochemback.
The home side suddenly looked capable of getting something from the game, as Overmars linked up with Saviola on the left and Gerard set about feeding passes into Rivaldo on the edge of the box.
Saviola got his first on 49 minutes as Overmars volleyed Gerard's cross back into the box, leaving him with a simple chance.
Overmars was instrumental in the second Barca goal, too, as his cross found Rivaldo in space in the area and the Brazilian chested the ball down for Saviola to do the rest.