Barcelona smash Bayern 4-1 in Champions League

Raphinha scored a hat-trick as Barcelona thumped Bayern Munich 4-1 in the UEFA Champions League on Thursday (AEDT) in Spain.

The Brazilian forward scored in the opening minute before England skipper Harry Kane levelled things for the visitors in the 18th minute.

The hosts, however, regained their lead in the 36th minute through Robert Lewandowski before Raphinha doubled his account right before the break.

Bayern were further punished for their ineffective high line, as Raphinha struck not long after the interval to complete his hat-trick.

It was a nightmare evening for Vincent Kompany’s men, who sit 23rd on the Champions League table after enduring a second consecutive defeat.

“We lost; it was a clear loss,” the Bayern boss said.

“I don’t want to begin analysing everything right away. In the first half, their first goal is too easy, and it stings.

“Then I had the feeling for around 30 minutes that we could win it. But then the game was flipped after the second and third goals.

“But for a more in-depth analysis, I think we need calm after we’ve watched it back again, so that we can learn from it and improve.

“We’ll stick together and learn from this loss.”

Meanwhile, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick was quite pleased by the performance.

“I’m proud of how we came back after the equaliser, as we had a period in the game when we weren’t so brave,” the German said.

“We created some excellent chances. I’m happy; we have a very young team who are implementing our ideas very well.”

“We were a touch better today, a touch more clinical in our finishing.”

With two consecutive wins following their opening-day defeat to AS Monaco, Barca have climbed to eighth in the Champions League standings with six points.

The Blaugrana will be boosted by the huge win ahead of this weekend’s Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, although top soccer betting sites have Real Madrid at $2.04 to beat the Liga leaders ($3.31).

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich will be eager to bounce back in the Bundesliga, with online bookmakers pegging the Bavarians as $1.16 favourites to win away at VfL Bochum ($14).

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