Barcelona vs Gladbach: Arda Turan hat-trick secures win after Lionel Messi opener
Barcelona 4 Atletico Madrid 0: Messi's strike was his 10th in the competition so far
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Your support makes all the difference.There was some belated redemption for Arda Turan at the Camp Nou on Tuesday when his hat-trick helped Barcelona brush aside Borussia Monchengladach 4-0.
He was at fault at Saturday when a foul in the 90th minute gave Real Madrid the chance to equalize from the resulting free-kick.
Questions have also been raised about his conduct off the field with stories that he stayed out the longest when the squad met up recently to celebrate Luis Suarez’ Golden Boot award.
And even without the errors of judgement Barcelona supporters have seen little to suggest he is worth the £24m pounds the club paid for him in the summer of 2015 but this was a reminder of what the former Atletico Madrid midfielder is capable of.
He got his first on 53 minutes by heading in the impressive Denis Suarez’ cross from the right and then buried an Aleix Vidal pass after the full-back crossed.
He completed his hat-trick from a Paco Alcacer cross. The only downer from a night when Barça regained their spark was that the former Valencia forward is still yet to get his first goal for the club since his 30m euros move in the summer.
Andres Iniesta, back in the team from the start for the first time in six weeks, did his best to tee him up but Yann Sommer saved his best effort on another frustrating evening.
Turan was replaced by 21-year-old Marc Cardona with 15 minutes left. Before scoring his three goals he had set up Leo Messi for the opener with a perfectly weighted pull-back that the Argentine finished for his tenth goal in the competition so far this season.
Messi is Barcelona’s top scorer in all competitions followed by Luis Suarez. But with eight goals Turan is now third, and back on the right side of his manager Luis Enrique. The Barça coach said: “We were very precise and we moved the ball around very quickly and that was the key. We played almost the whole game in their half. Everyone played well without any exceptions and we now are just keen for the draw,” before adding sarcastically: “We will draw the team who finished second with the points I’m sure.”
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