Barcelona brush off Bayern Munich in 4-1 Champions League romp behind stunning Raphinha hat trick

Lewandowski also got on the board while Harry Kane briefly pulled Bayern level in the first half

Barcelona notched their first statement-making win under manager Hansi Flick on Wednesday, when they beat Bayern Munich 4-1 at home as Raphinha scored a hattrick.

The Brazil international kicked off the scoring with a goal in the first minute, with Fermin Lopez playing a slick ball to Raphinha yards from the halfway line. Raphinha handled the rest from there, running towards goal and then sliding the ball past Manuel Neuer for the early lead.

Bayern, though, responded well by dominating possession and limiting Barcelona to zero shots in the next 22 minutes and eventually scoring the equalizer through Harry Kane's 18th minute goal. That joy was short-lived, though, as individual defensive errors allowed Robert Lewandowski to strike in the 36th minute and Raphinha to complete a brace in the 45th minute.

The visitors looked intent on mounting a comeback to start the second half but Raphinha's third off a counterattack essentially dashed their hopes of rescuing a point. Barcelona, meanwhile, closed the game out skillfully, swapping the high-intensity feeling for the first hour for a restrained and controlled finish to the game.

With two wins out of three Champions League games, Barcelona sit ninth in the league phase table while Bayern rank 23rd with just one win to start the campaign.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 4:57 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

FT: Barcelona 4, Bayern 1

The biggest game of Matchday 3 did not disappoint -- unless you're Bayern, of course. Barcelona notch the first statement win of Flick's tenure and boast one of Europe's most in-form players in hattrick hero Raphinha, things lining up nicely for them ahead of Saturday's Clasico in Madrid. Bayern, meanwhile, revealed a lot about themselves today, too -- their offense might have a lot going for it, but their defense is a major disadvantage that leaves a lot of room for improvement.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 4:39 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Olmo comes on

76' Flick brings on Olmo for a cameo, with the marquee summer signing making his return from a short-term injury. He last played for Barcelona on Sept. 15 and though he's scored in each of his three games for the club, his job will be to just close this one out since Barcelona already have a healthy margin of victory in their favor.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 4:28 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Coman takes a shot

66' Coman has his first major involvement of the game, making a run towards goal and then taking a shot that can't find the target. It was a promising opportunity but Coman seemed unresolved about what he wanted to do with the ball at his feet, adding to Bayern's somewhat wasteful shot count in the process. The visitors are outshooting the opposition but have clearly not done enough with their opportunities, and the clock's ticking as the wait to see if they can mount a comeback continues.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 4:22 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Kompany goes to the bench

60' Bayern manager Kompany opts for FOUR substitutions with a half-hour on the clock -- on come Sane, Musiala, Coman and Goretzka, off go Olise, Muller, Gnabry and Palhinha. The quartet playing behind Kane has been completely changed as Bayern look to claw back into this one.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 4:18 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Barcelona 4, Bayern 1

56' Raphinha finds the back of the net again! The play starts with a Bayern freekcik near the other goal, which Barcelona handle with relative ease before launching a counterattack and relying on the best strategy of all, it seems -- passing to Raphinha. He goes off to the races and scores from inside the box to complete the hattrick.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 4:13 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Bayern with a chance

51' Bayern look close to getting the first meaningful shot of the second half but Kane can't get a great touch on the ball. This match is picking up from where it left off in some ways, though -- it's a bit cagey still and Bayern are dominating possession so far, but whether or not their defense will cost them again after the break is a big question.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 4:04 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Raphinha's on fire

Here's a stat to keep in mind as the second half comes back -- with eight goals and six assists this season, Raphinha is averaging a goal or assist for Barcelona every 65 minutes. He's also setting records for Barcelona in his 100th game for the club.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 3:51 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

HT: Barcelona 3, Bayern 1

What a thrilling first half that was. A high-speed, high-intensity and at times cagey first half delivered four goals, and though Bayern dominate in possession and were the better team for about the first 25 minutes, Barcelona's late attacking surge gives them the lead.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 3:49 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Barcelona 3, Bayern 1

45'+1 Barcelona begin to put some distance between themselves and the opposition with another goal shortly before halftime, this time courtesy of Raphinha. He receives the ball after a stellar long ball from Casado but the goal is a real solo effort as he makes his way towards goal and outmaneuvers a handful of Bayern players before scoring from close range.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 3:41 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Barcelona 2, Bayern 1

36' Barcelona are back in front, courtesy of a controversial goal from Lewandowski. He pounces on a loose ball in the penalty area for a swift finish from close range, though the goal underwent a fairly lengthy check for a foul beforehand. Bayern will feel hard done by with the call, and might argue that they have been the better team so far, but Barcelona's the team that's in front.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 3:30 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Barcelona go forward

27' Barcelona hadn't taken a shot since Raphinha's strike in the opening minute after absorbing Bayern's pressure and conceding an equalizer, the hosts have ventured forward and looked a bit threatening. Lewandowski took a shot at goal that was easy enough to deal with but Neuer survived a dangerous opportunity from Yamal, who went unseen by the goalkeeper but was unable to finish off the chance.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 3:22 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Barcelona 1, Bayern 1

18' Bayern finally have their equalizer, with Gnabry playing a wonderful ball across the goal to find Kane, who finishes from close range. The visitors have deserved that equalizer -- they have had more than 70% of the ball today, looking for opportunities to take advantages of Barcelona's high line. That chance finally came, adding another layer of drama to an already entertaining game.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 3:14 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Bayern look for an equalizer

10' It looked as if Bayern had their equalizer courtesy of Kane, but the Englishman drifted into an offside position, canceling out his goal. Still, the visitors have responded relatively well to going down a goal early, most notably through a shot on goal from Kane a few minutes earlier.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 3:04 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Barcelona 1, Bayern 0

1' Raphinha marks his 100th appearance for Barcelona in style, scoring the game's opening goal in the first minute. He barely beats the offside trap and makes a run towards goal, moving his way around a diving Neuer to score his seventh goal of the season.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 3:01 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Barcelona 0, Bayern 0

The most anticipated game of Matchday 3 is officially underway at Barcelona's Olympic Stadium.

[Oct 23, 2024 at 2:46 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Elsewhere in the Champions League

The first two Champions League games of the day ended in draws, with Bayer Leverkusen tying 1-1 at Brest and Atalanta going goalless against Celtic. Ahead of kickoff in Barcelona's, here's a look at Matchday 3 so far -- and what's to come around Europe.

Matchday 3 result

• Monaco 5, Crvena Zvezda 1
• AC Milan 3, Club Brugge 1
• Arsenal 1, Shakhtar Donetsk 0
• Juventus 0, Stuttgart 1
• Sturm Graz 0, Sporting Lisbon 2
• Real Madrid 5, Borussia Dortmund 2
• Paris Saint-Germain 1, PSV 1
• Girona 2, Slovan Bratislava 0
• Aston Villa 2, Bologna 0
• Atalanta 0, Celtic 0
• Brest 1, Bayer Leverkusen 1

Remaining schedule
All games kick off at 3 p.m. ET

• Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich (Paramount+)
• RB Leipzig vs. Liverpool (Paramount+)
• Manchester City vs. Sparta Praha (Paramount+)
• Atletico Madrid vs. Lille (CBS Sports Network, Paramount+)
• RB Salzburg vs. Dinamo Zagreb (Paramount+)
• Benfica vs. Feyenoord (Paramount+)
• Young Boys vs. Inter (Paramount+)

[Oct 23, 2024 at 2:32 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

A tale of two strikers

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski and Bayern's Harry Kane, two of the game's top forwards, will face off today and expectations are high that both will continue their goalscoring reputations in one of the most high-profile games of the league pahse. The pair are similar in a handful of respects, including their ability to combine with wide players, but Michael Lahoud broke down the differences between the two forwards, including the preferred movements that make them the players they are.

• Lahoud on Kane: "Combination play, it's gotta be Harry Kane. Harry Kane did this with Tottenham [Hotspur] -- quarterbacking, dropping into the half-spaces and then playing those long passes. He's got better passing range and now with Bayern Munich, I think he's gotten the freedom from Vincent Kompany to combine with the wingers and one player who's been loving it is Michael Olise."

• Lahoud on Lewandowski: "I think Lewandowski has better movement this season. The reason why Robert Lewandowski has 12 goals, which is the most of any striker in Europe's top five leagues, is because he constantly reinvents himself. ... If you have the vision to see the goal, you can readjust your feet and get easy goals, and he's been scoring some easy goals inside the six -- more than Harry Kane has this season."

[Oct 23, 2024 at 2:15 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Players to watch

Barcelona's success this season has coincided with strong form for both Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, who were name-dropped in today's batch of expert picks and predictions as players to keep an eye on.

• James Benge on Raphinha: "One of the best players in Europe so far this season, no one in La Liga comes close to matching the Brazilian's 36 chances created (second best Alex Baena has 27). Lining up as a number 10 against a Bayern Munich side who aren't really using their most defensive midfielder? This could be fun."

• Francesco Porzio on Yamal: "Hansi Flick's team is in good spirits after a solid win against Sevilla over the weekend, where midfielder Gavi also made his comeback after injury. Against the former side of the Blaugrana coach, we expect Lamine Yamal to shine and drive his teammates to the win against the German giants"

[Oct 23, 2024 at 2:04 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Lewandowski, Kane start up top

A star-studded list of heavy-hitters cracked the lineup for both Barcelona and Bayern as each side eyes a big win at an early stage of the season. Here's a look at both teams' starters.

Barcelona starting XI: Pena, Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde, Casado, Pedri, Yamal, Lopez, Raphinha, Lewandowski

Bayern starting XI: Neuer, Guerreiro, Upamecano, Kim, Davies, Kimmich, Palhinha, Olise, Muller, Gnabry, Kane

[Oct 23, 2024 at 1:45 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Is this Barcelona's game to lose?

Barcelona and Bayern, under new management, are so far relatively untested but if there's an edge in this one, it might be Barcelona's. La Liga's leaders have impressed consistently this season under manager Hansi Flick, and James Benge predicts they just might prove they are the real deal with a statement-making win at home today.

• Benge: "Barcelona are remade. Across Europe's top five leagues no team is scoring more, no team is picking up points at a greater rate and no team has a better overall xG difference. Raphinha has a compelling case to be the continent's best creator at this moment, Robert Lewandowski is its best domestic scorer and the young supporting cast around the veterans, so many of them homegrown, is showing composure beyond its years. They will face their toughest test yet in Bayern, but the team that gave up three strikingly similar goals to Eintracht Frankfurt earlier hasn't entirely kicked its addiction to the inexplicable. This looks like being a day for a revitalized Barcelona."

[Oct 23, 2024 at 12:53 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Hello and welcome!

Matchday 3 of the Champions League is already off to an entertaining start and hopes are high things will trend in that direction again today, especially as Barcelona host Bayern Munich. The matchup is narrative heavy as the biggest match of both teams' seasons so far, though there's much more to look out for in the most anticipated match of the week. That includes a battle between new managers Hansi Flick and Vincent Kompany, as well as two of the game's greatest goalscorers in Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane.

Stick around for pre-game thoughts and coverage once the match begins.