Raphinha nets hat-trick as Barcelona rout Bayern Munich

Raphinha hit a stunning hat-trick as Barcelona thrashed fellow European heavyweights Bayern Munich 4-1 in a Champions League classic.

The Brazil international opened the scoring inside a minute at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys before former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski restored Barca’s lead following Harry Kane’s leveller.

Captain Raphinha doubled his tally by delightfully curling home and then completed his treble with another eye-catching finish as the LaLiga leaders laid down a marker ahead of Saturday’s clash with rivals Real Madrid.

A statement group-stage victory moved Barca on to six points from three games and ended a run of six successive defeats to the Bundesliga giants, dating back to the 2014-15 season – the last time the Catalan club lifted the trophy.

Bayern, meanwhile, face an uphill battle to put their continental campaign back on track, having failed to bounce back from a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa on matchday two.

Vincent Kompany’s stunned visitors trailed inside 58 seconds.

Fermin Lopez’s through ball exposed the opposition’s high defensive line, leaving ex-Leeds forward Raphinha to race clear and clinically round Manuel Neuer to slot home.

Bayern responded well to the early setback and thought they had levelled in the 10th minute, only for Kane’s headed finish to be disallowed for a marginal offside.

Barca remained on the back foot and their advantage was extinguished eight minutes later when unmarked England captain Kane set aside his earlier frustration to expertly volley home Serge Gnabry’s left-wing cross.

Among the many subplots was the battle between rival number nines Kane and Lewandowski.

The latter, who won eight Bundesliga titles with Bayern between 2014 and 2022, duly put the hosts back in front nine minutes shy of half-time, side-footing into the unguarded net after the lively Lopez lifted the ball beyond Neuer and Dayot Upamecano.

Kompany protested on the touchline as Bayern appealed in vain for a foul by Lopez on Kim Min-jae in the build-up before seeing his side fall further behind in the 45th minute.

Raphinha again did the damage, collecting a sumptuous diagonal pass from Marc Casado and driving at Raphael Guerreiro before bending the ball into the bottom right corner.

Former Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha threatened as Bayern sought a response early in the second period before their predicament became even more perilous.

Following a searching pass from Lamine Yamal, Raphinha chested the ball towards goal and then arrowed a devastating diagonal drive into the bottom right corner from the edge of the 18-yard box.

Former Burnley manager Kompany responded with a quadruple substitution in a bid to spark an unlikely comeback.

But the home side comfortably held on as Barca boss Hansi Flick enjoyed a dominant success against his former employers before travelling to Santiago Bernabeu to take charge of his first El Clasico fixture.