New Archavin Shines/ Bratkov Assists Against Iran, Scores Against Barça

Alexei Bratkov, the 21-year-old Russian sensation at Galatasaray, Found the Back of the Barça Net Tonight. Days Ago, He Had Also Provided an Assist Against Iran's National Team.

According to Sport Se, the 21-year-old Russian phenomenon scared the eyes of the European giant in Istanbul. In the hell created by the Gala fans, Batrakov opened the gate of Barça, whose name is feared by all the greats in Europe these days.

The European media have been calling him the rightful successor of the great Russian football star Andrey Arshavin for some time, and Batrakov tonight proved to those who knew him less why he was given that title.

Alexey Batrakov, who was praised in the Spanish media as "the new Arshavin" on the eve of the great battle between Galatasaray and Barcelona. The 21-year-old attacking midfielder of Russia opened Barcelona's goal in the 28th minute and Gala, while under heavy pressure from his famous opponent at the beginning of the match, took the lead against the flow of the game.

Batrakov's spectacular goal was scored on a lightning counterattack. While the Barcelona players were looking for a penalty in the Gala penalty area, the referee didn't recognize Anthony Gordon's collision as a penalty foul, and the yellow and reds of Istanbul immediately launched a quick attack.

Rafael Liao sent the ball to the back of the penalty area and Batrakov tried his luck with an accurate shot from a distance. The shot that changed direction after hitting Joao Cancelo and stuck to the net of the goal away from the hands of Juan Garcia.

This goal is undoubtedly a big turning point for the Russian phenomenon. For a long time, the Russian sports media have mentioned him as the most creative piece of the new generation of football in their country, and tonight they are telling the world that they should have listened to them and did not underestimate Batrakov.

After this goal, the eventful night in Istanbul went against Barça. In the 34th minute, Barish Alper Yilmaz crossed the goal line of Barca for the second time after Victor Osiman's header, but the referee went to the monitor on the side of the field to review the scene and declared the goal disallowed.

Batrakov was born on June 9, 2005 and learned the alphabet of football from the age of six at the Moscow Lokomotiv Academy. By going through the basic ranks, he reached the Lokomotiv main team for the first time in March 2024 and was invited to the Russian senior national team camp in the same year. Batrakov opened the scoring for Brunei in his first international match in November 2024. The brilliance of this young talent made Galatasaray pay a figure equal to 25 million euros to attract him. According to the official five-year contract, Lokomotiv will have a share of 15% of his next transfer profit.

In his last season in the Russian league, Batrakov has 17 goals and 12 assists in 36 official matches. Before tonight's game, the Spanish newspaper "Sport" compared his playing style with Andrey Arshavin and said that Barca should be afraid of him. Interestingly, Arshavin himself admitted in August 2026 that the technical quality of this young star is higher than the Turkish league and that Galatasaray will play a similar role as his launching pad to bigger European clubs.

On this FIFA Day, during the 2-0 loss of our country's national team against Russia, Batrakov was in the Russians' fixed lineup and was on the field for 79 minutes. Batrakov, who scored both goals for Russia, assisted Golovin on one of the goals. His last impressive goal before opening the scoring for Barcelona tonight on the biggest stage possible.