Uche Cecil Izuora/Agency Report
Barcelona’s captain Raphinha scored a hat-trick to lead them to a commanding 4-1 home victory over Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, ending a near decade-long winless run against the German powerhouse.
After six consecutive losses in which they were outscored by 22 goals to four by Bayern, including a humiliating 8-2 defeat in the Champions League quarterfinals four years ago, Barcelona got their revenge with a great attacking performance led by their Brazilian captain.
Raphinha’s inspired night started when he gave Barca the lead a little over a minute after kickoff when he received a fine pass by midfielder Fermin Lopez, beat the offside trap and rounded the onrushing Manuel Neuer before tapping into the empty net.
Bayern did not seem affected by the setback and were mostly in control against the home side, who looked comfortable playing on the counter-attack and exploiting the speed of Raphinha and Lamine Yamal.
Nonetheless, if Barca looked dangerous with the ball and always one quick counter away from scoring, they were far from imposing on defense and gave too much space for Bayern who should have done better with the many chances they had.
Bayern’s wingers Serge Gnabry and Michael Olise were a constant menace against an aggressively high defensive line deployed by Barca’s boss Hansi Flick.
The visiting side thought they have scored the equalizer in the 10th minute through a Harry Kane header, but his effort was ruled out after the video assistant referee (VAR) replay caught the England striker marginally offside.
Eight minutes later, however, Kane’s volley from a cross by Serge Gnabry did stand as an equalizer.
After Olise and Joshua Kimmich wasted good chances from close range it was Barca who got back in front in the 36th minute when Kim Min-Jae failed to deal with a high ball and Fermin Lopez cleverly chipped the ball between Neuer and Upamecano to Robert Lewandowski who tapped into an empty net.
Bayern’s players heavily complained to the referee, saying that Lopez pushed Kim in the build-up, but VAR did not consider the contact enough to be considered an infringement.
Barca grew in intensity against a visiting side who looked stunned as Raphinha netted a brilliant curling strike from the edge of the box after receiving a crossfield pass from Marc Casado just before halftime.
Raphinha wrapped up Barca’s win in the 56th minute with a tidy finish from another quick counter-attack as the home crowd chanted “Ole”.
One day after his compatriot Vinicius Jr. scored a hat-trick to help Real Madrid to a 5-2 comeback win over Borussia Dortmund, Raphinha’s performance against another German giant set up the perfect scenario for a highly anticipated El Clasico against Real in LaLiga on Saturday.
“Look at what happened yesterday (in Madrid) and today and you can see how good of a game it will be on Saturday. El Clasico is one of the best matches in the world,” Raphinha told Movistar Plus. “It is a night to be very happy about. For the game, what we did as a team. It’s the most important thing for me. To be able to win like this, in front of our fans, is special”.
Barca are ninth in the Champions League standings on six points from three games while Bayern are 23rd on three points after a second consecutive defeat.