Barcelona finally broke a six-game losing streak against Bayern Munich in emphatic fashion as captain Raphinha’s brilliant hat-trick led the Blaugrana to a 4-1 triumph in the UEFA Champions League at Camp Nou.
This was shaping up to be a classic from the opening minute, sure enough, Barça were in front as Raphinha coolly rounded Manuel Neuer after being put clean through by Fermín López’s incisive pass. Bayern sought an instant response, and Harry Kane thought he had equalised on ten minutes, only to be flagged offside. Eight minutes later, he got his goal, expertly finishing a cross by Serge Gnabry to draw the game level.
Barça were soon back in command, Robert Lewandowski shooting just wide before Kim Min-jae’s mistake let in Fermín to lay the chance on a plate for Lewandowski to convert clinically. On the stroke of half-time, Raphinha made it two, hammering the ball through the legs of Dayot Upamecano after Marc Casadó’s wonderful ball across.
In the second half, attempts at regrouping from Bayern came to little avail. Raphinha completed his hat-trick, chesting down Lamine Yamal’s precise pass as he powered forward and rifling in a low shot into the bottom corner. Bayern manager Vincent Kompany had made a raft of substitutions in a bid to spark a revival, but Kingsley Coman’s wayward shot summed up the frustrations of the visitors.
It was complete dominance from Barcelona, who started to toy with the German giants as the home crowd began chanting “Olé”. Lewandowski did fluff a late chance to make it 5-0, but his side was never in doubt of victory. The win launched Barcelona up the UCL standings and made it back-to-back group stage victories. Bayern continued to struggle and fell to their third straight away defeat in Europe and back-to-back UCL losses for the first time in 41 matches at this stage.
