Raphinha, a player from Brazil, was the main attraction tonight as Barcelona defeated Bayern Munich to exact much-needed Champions League retribution.
The Bundesliga club lost to the Spanish powerhouses 4 goals to 1, demonstrating their superiority on the day. With a hat-trick and a strong showing overall, Raphinha, who captained the team for 60 minutes, spearheaded the attack.
After Lewandowski put Barcelona back up, the Brazilian scored his first goal and then added two more to the lead.
Minutes after the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) rejected his first goal for being offside with his toe, Harry Kane pulled even for Bayern Munich.
However, after the break, it was all Barcelona, and Raphinha netted a deserved hat-trick in the 56th minute.
Hansi Flick’s men enjoyed their day out, running circles around their opponents, and still maintained control even after extending their lead.
On the other dugout, Vincent Kompany failed to capitalise on the home team’s high defensive line. They fell into the offside trap three times.
Barcelona’s first home victory in seven games.
In the meantime, Barcelona’s victory today marks their first victory over Bayern in seven tournament meetings.
Prior to this, Bayern Munich had won the previous six meetings, scoring 22 goals. The six-time winners continue to have a better head-to-head record than the five-time champions. In the UEFA Champions League, Bayern Munich has prevailed in ten of the fourteen meetings.
With tonight’s 4-1 triumph, Barcelona has now defeated the Germans three times.
Bayern has only won one of their first three league phase games, while Barcelona has won two.
