Flick warns Barcelona players about the "hostile atmosphere"

Barcelona head into their second Champions League outing the day after tomorrow, Tuesday, travelling to Turkey as heavyweight visitors to face Galatasaray.

Their campaign opened with a 5-1 thumping of Dutch side Feyenoord.

According to the newspaper Sport, German coach Hansi Flick has warned his Catalan players against complacency in Istanbul.

Flick has made it clear, in the club's corridors and in public, that the trip to Galatasaray is a hugely important stop in the schedule.

He rates the Turkish side highly, believing they possess a top-class squad with players performing at a high level on the international stage, chief among them Victor Osimhen and Leroy Sane.

From the point of view of Barcelona's coaching staff, the Galatasaray fixture is one of the toughest away days of the league phase, every bit as difficult as the trip to Paris Saint-Germain.

Then there's the crowd. Speaking after the Getafe match, Flick warned his players about the atmosphere waiting for them, describing it as the most fiery and the noisiest stadium in all of Europe.

Barcelona's players know what enormous pressure feels like, not least in the semi-final against Inter Milan at the San Siro. But the message to the dressing room is blunt: they will face an extremely hostile atmosphere, perhaps the most intense they have ever experienced inside a football stadium.

Nothing less than total concentration will do. Flick wants the three points brought back from Istanbul.