Besiktas 3 - Barcelona 0

Barcelona: Dutruel; Abelardo, Frank De Boer, Sergi (Alfonso 60'); Gerard, Petit; Simao (Zenden 76'), De la Peña, Overmars; Rivaldo, Kluivert (Dani 73'). 3-2-3-2.

Goals:
1-0. 38. Dursun. Stuck out left foot and poked Nihad's cross past Dutruel.
2-0. 75. Dursun. Chipped keeper after taking pass from Nouma.
3-0. 87. Nouma. Ball rebounded off player and over line via crossbar.

Barcelona received a serious setback to their Champions League aspirations, losing heavily to Beskitas by 3-0. This was their second defeat in three days, having lost to Athletic Bilbao last Saturday, and they badly need to get back on track at the weekend with two games against AC Milan coming up. Serra Ferrer's formation relies heavily on the midfield triangle, and he tried out another combination for this game, with Iván De la Peña coming in at the apex in front of Gerard and Petit with Rivaldo moving forward to join Kluivert.

Although Barça did create some chances in the beginning, the Turkish defence quickly closed them down, packing the space in front of the penalty area with men and keeping the two wingers, Simao and Overmars, under control. Gradually the home side started to believe they could win, and after Dutruel had saved on three occasions, Ahmet Dursun finally got the better of him, sticking out a high foot to poke Nihad's cross in to the net. The crowd went wild (hard to believe there were only 22,000), and as Barça came out looking for an equaliser, Beskitas caught them on the hop again, Ahmet once again beating Dutruel with a chipped shot.

At this stage the visitors were playing with five forwards, and after Zenden came on to replace Simao, Alfonso wasted the best chance of the match with a weak shot which Shorunmu saved easily. To round off a bad night, the Turks made it three with a freak goal right at the end, the ball seeming to ricochet off first Petit and then Nouma before just crossing the line off the crossbar. The linesman took an age to make up his mind, but it was a legitimate goal, and after the home side made their last two slow substitutions, the referee decided enough was enough and blew the final whistle. At least there was some consolation for Barça, as Leeds United's victory over Milan left all four sides level on three points, with the Spanish team second on goal average. It may boil down to that in the end, and this result didn't help in the slightest. Serra Ferrer has some thinking to do.