UCL: Barca ease to comfortable win over Bayern

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Barcelona 4 - 1 Bayern Munich

It was a disappointing night for Bayern Munich as Barcelona eased to a comfortable victory in the Champions League league stage.

Author - Josh T

Barcelona 4 - 1 Bayern Munich - Barcelona 4 - 1 Bayern Munich

Barcelona winger Raphinha was a hero on the night as he delivered an outstanding hat-trick. The Brazilian opened the scoring in under a minute, pouncing on a ball over the top and skilfully rounding goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

England captain Harry Kane levelled the score for Bayern in the 18th minute, volleying in Serge Gnabry’s cross at the back post.

However, Barcelona continued to exploit Bayern’s high defensive line. Fermin Lopez broke through, poking the ball past Neuer to set up Robert Lewandowski for Barcelona’s second, 18 minutes later.

Just before half-time, Raphinha, wearing the captain’s armband for the night, made it 3-1 with a sublime curling shot from the edge of the box.

Soon after the break, he sealed his hat-trick by latching onto another long pass and drilling a shot into the far corner.

A closer look at what happened

Several Bayern players have come under heavy criticism from German news organisations. It has also heaped pressure on Vincent Kompany. They might not have expected to win the Champions League this season but they would have hoped to progress. This isn't looking certain at the moment.

Barcelona 4 - 1 Bayern Munich - Barcelona 4 - 1 Bayern Munich (2)

Things are looking more positive for Barcelona though. It has been a fantastic start to the season for them, with many players impressing fans and pundits alike

There were rumours this summer that Barcelona wanted to sell winger Raphinha, a player they signed from Leeds in a deal worth up to £55m back in 2022.

Their boss Hansi Flick will be glad he stuck with the Brazil forward who has now scored nine times in 13 appearances this season. He netted his second hat-trick of the campaign having already struck a treble against Real Valladolid in August.

My reaction

This was a really important night for Barcelona. I posted some more thoughts on my LinkedIn profile earlier today.

More Champions League news and stories from European Super Football can be found here

Location: Barcelona, Spain

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