- Barcelona enjoyed a thumping win over Bayern Munich
- Raphinha hat-trick the difference in smash and grab performance
- Bayern dominated large parts of the game but lost heavily
Barcelona secured their first victory over Bayern Munich in nine years with a ruthlessly German-like performance in the Champions League on Wednesday as Hansi Flick bested his former club.
The Catalans had endured six straight defeats at the hands of the Bavarian machine since 2015, including an infamous 8-2 humiliation when Flick was at the Bayern helm in 2020. But that run came to an emphatic end at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in this one.
Raphinha delivered a devastatingly efficient hat-trick, with Barcelona ultimately converting all four of their shots on target. Harry Kane did equalise in the first half, but Robert Lewandowski put the hosts back in front, before Raphinha’s further decisive blows wrapped up the scoring inside an hour.
The result puts Barcelona within touching distance of the all-important top eight in the overall standings. But a struggling Bayern have now lost two of their three fixtures and sit as low as 23rd, behind the likes of Sparta Prague, Dinamo Zagreb and Celtic.
How the game unfolded
Some fans were yet to even take their seats after kick-off when Barca got off to the dream start, a move that started with Inaki Pena in goal and swept from back to front in a flash. Fermin Lopez played the final ball around the corner to the space in front of Raphinha, although Joshua Kimmich was poorly positioned and then messed up the chance to cut the pass out.
But Raphinha had ice in his veins as he stared down Manuel Neuer, took the ball past the Bayern goalkeeper and slid it into the net as Kimmich desperately chased back.
That only seemed to awaken Bayern and Kane quickly had the visitors level, or so he thought, heading in from Raphael Guerreiro’s cross. But VAR spotted that the England captain’s knee and toes were offside, chalking off the would-be equaliser.
Still, after a couple of further chances, Bayern did draw level after 18 minutes anyway. This time there was no offside, first as Michael Olise switched play from right to left to find Serge Gnabry, with Kane then waiting in the middle to volley the German winger’s cross beyond the reach of Pena.
Bayern were firmly dominating possession and Barcelona’s incredibly high defensive line threatened to be their undoing when Guerreiro burst into the box but couldn’t direct Gnabry’s cross goalward. So when the hosts then retook the lead, it was somewhat against the run of play.
There was a pause while the goal was subject to a VAR check, but a potential foul on Kim Min-jae as Lopez put an arm on his back was deemed acceptable. The Barcelona midfielder then flicked the ball past the advancing Neuer and Lewandowski closed into finish the chance in front of an open net.
Raphinha’s second of the night on the stroke of half-time only fed the notion of it being a smash and grab Barcelona performance as Bayern frustration began to show. It was just their third shot on target of the night but produced a third goal, taking in a cross-field pass from Marc Casado, driving forward, cutting onto his right foot and unleashing an unstoppable strike into the far top corner.
A spell of concerted Bayern pressure early in the second half had a similar outcome to the first half, another Barcelona goal. It was Raphinha’s hat-trick strike, burying the ball in the far bottom corner after taking a pass from Lamine Yamal on his chest and racing away from the defenders.
With an even bigger mountain to climb, that was the killer blow that knocked the wind out of Bayern’s sails and creativity really dried up – perhaps not helped by Vincent Kompany replacing both wingers and his ‘number 10’ in a single swing of the axe an hour in.
By the final quarter of the game, Barcelona were comfortably cruising and momentum from both sides largely petered out as they accepted their respective fate.
Barcelona player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Inaki Pena - 6/10 - Wasn't called upon to do any more but not always that comfortable.
RB: Jules Kounde - 5/10 - Some really narrow positioning gave Bayern a lot of space on the left.
CB: Pau Cubarsi - 6/10 - Made sure Kane knew he was there after arguably losing that battle early on.
CB: Inigo Martinez - 6/10 - What Barca's midfield and forwards were doing at the other end relieved the pressure on him. Not massively convincing.
LB: Alejandro Balde - 6/10 - Narrow like Kounde on the other side, but Bayern did less on his flank.
CM: Pedri - 8/10 - Outstanding out of possession, winning the ball back and ensuring Bayern couldn't play through the middle of the pitch.
CM: Marc Casado - 7/10 - An unbelievable pass made possible by unbelievable vision to set up Raphina's second and Barcelona's third.
RM: Lamine Yamal - 7/10 - Pretty quiet by his standards until he popped up with a superb assist for the fourth goal.
AM: Fermin Lopez - 8/10 - It was brilliant vision to see the run of Raphinha in his peripheral vision, even if the pass got a helping hand from Kimmich. His second assist was more fortuitous but he was in the right place at the right time to help the ball into Lewandowski's path.
LM: Raphinha (c) - 10/10 - A player reborn this season. Took his early opportunity so well, composure personified as he rounded Neuer to score. His second was on another level, and by his third he was so high confidence that he couldn't miss.
ST: Robert Lewandowski - 7/10 - Got the inevitable goal against his former club, mainly as a result of clinical positioning and the abilty to sniff out and anticipate the chance. Otherwise quiet.
Substitutes
SUB: Frenkie de Jong (61' for Lopez) - 6/10
SUB: Dani Olmo (76' for Raphinha) - 6/10
SUB: Gavi (85' for Pedri) - N/A
SUB: Ansu Fati (85' for Yamal) - N/A
SUB: Pau Victor (85' for Lewandowski) - N/A
Subs not used: Wojciech Szczesny (GK), Diego Kochen (GK), Sergi Dominguez, Gerard Martin, Hector Fort, Pablo Torre.
Manager
Hansi Flick - 9/10 - It wasn't classic Barcelona at all, but it was pretty much a tactical masterclass. The narrowness of his full-backs, inviting Bayern to attack wide was the only strange thing.
Bayern Munich player ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK: Manuel Neuer (c) - 3/10 - Some really poor distribution didn't instill confidence. Not particularly commanding for either of Barcelona's first two goals. Overall, beaten with every shot on target.
RB: Raphael Guerreiro - 5/10 - Got forward to decent effect when Bayern had their best first half spell, but beaten too easily by Raphinha when the hosts got their thrid goal.
CB: Dayot Upamecano - 4/10 - Could he have done better for the second goal that went in? Maybe. Should he done better for the third? Almost certainly.
CB: Kim Min-jae - 4/10 - Too weak in the aerial challenge with Lopez that led to Barcelona going back in front before half-time. That slight nudge shouldn't have been enough to take him out of the game.
LB: Alphonso Davies - 5/10 - Won more duels than he lost but there was an opportunity to create overloads out wide and it was missed.
CM: Joshua Kimmich - 3/10 - It was a disastrous start, culpable in two ways for his team going behind so quickly. Not his usual flawless passing self and just seemed a step off the pace.
CM: Joao Palhinha - 5/10 - Thrashed at a potentially decent chance when it was 3-1.
RM: Michael Olise - 6/10 - Delivered a brilliant cross-field ball that started off the move for the equaliser but his quality wasn't consistent.
AM: Thomas Muller - 5/10 - Barcelona squeezed the space in the middle of the pitch so he didn't really have room to play was quite ineffective.
LM: Serge Gnabry - 7/10 - It was an inch-perfect cross for the leveller and he had a lot of room to work because of how the Barcelona defence was set up. Probably didn't take advantage enough.
ST: Harry Kane - 7/10 - Took his offside goal well but wasn't going to be kept out for long, staying sharp to equalise. A threat when service was good, although he also spent a lot of time on the floor.
Substitutes
SUB: Leon Goretzka (60' for Palhinha) - 6/10
SUB: Kingsley Coman (60' for Gnabry) - 6/10
SUB: Jamal Musiala (60' for Muller) - 5/10
SUB: Leroy Sane (60' for Olise) - 5/10
SUB: Konrad Laimer (86' for Guerreiro) - N/A
Subs not used: Sven Ulreich (GK), Daniel Peretz (GK), Eric Dier, Adam Aznou, Arijon Ibrahimovic, Mathys Tel.
Manager
Vincent Kompany - 4/10 - Probably couldn't believe what he was seeing given that his team dominated the game. Went for a quadruple change soon after it went to 4-1, but replacing the three players just behind Kane all at once seemed to stunt Bayern's creativity.
