THE ORB HAS SPOKEN: The Crowd Backs Galatasaray Over Barcelona, and the Bookmakers Choke on Their Incense

Draw the curtains and light the candles, darlings, because the cards have come down and I am as shocked as you are. The Tower card points straight at Catalonia. In the Barcelona vs Galatasaray fight on Morfi, the crowd has given its verdict: Galatasaray advances. Yes, the Lions of Istanbul, over the most fashionable side in Europe.

Here is what the reading is about. Galatasaray host FC Barcelona at Rams Park in mid-October, in the league phase of this season's Champions League. The two clubs arrive in very different moods. Barcelona opened by putting five past Feyenoord and conceding one, while Galatasaray lost by two goals at Sporting CP. AFP reports that Barcelona have won every game they have played this season, in all competitions, with a goal tally close to forty. The bookmakers took one look and ESPN lists Barcelona as the clear pre-match favourite, with Galatasaray priced as long outsiders.

Even so, the omens are not all bright for the Blaugrana. AFP reports that captain Raphinha has been ruled out of the trip to Istanbul with a hamstring problem he picked up on international duty. And Hansi Flick, a man who has never struck me as timid, said he would be happy with a one-nil win and called Rams Park one of the most hostile atmospheres in the world. When the visiting coach starts asking for just one goal, the tea leaves have something to say.

Now for the crowd. On Morfi's opinion markets, Galatasaray advances sits at 60% consensus, ahead of Barcelona advances on 40%. That is conviction, not a headcount: it measures how strongly the money is leaning, and it comes from 17 traders who have put $24,711 behind their opinions since the market opened less than a day ago. The bookies do arithmetic. This crowd is reading the room, and it seems to believe in the cauldron more than the spreadsheet.

My own view, and it is only the opinion of an old woman with a crystal ball: the crowd has fallen for the romance of the underdog, and I can't blame it. One perfect start, one missing captain, one cautious coach and forty thousand people roaring at once is the kind of mix that turns favourites into cautionary tales. Is it wise? Probably not. The spreadsheets are on Barcelona's side. But football that always goes to form isn't a prophecy, it's a timetable, and the orb has no interest in timetables.

What to watch next: Barcelona's line-up without Raphinha, whether Flick sets up to survive the noise or to silence it, and whether this young market stays loyal to the Lions as kickoff gets closer. The candles are lit and the crystal is warm. Join the market on Morfi and put your money where your premonition is.