The Bayern Munich curse for Barcelona finally broke on Wednesday night with a result that is gargantuan for the Spanish side.
Faced against a team they have struggled to keep at bay in recent years, Hansi Flick’s men scored four goals and recorded an astonishing scoreline to secure their second win of the UEFA Champions League campaign.
All departments impressed at Montjuic, with the defence doing well to hold their lines, the midfield orchestrating play and the forwards ruthless with the transition.
In a night filled with positives, even the substitutes brought joy to the supporters as Frenkie de Jong enjoyed a strong cameo while Gavi made his first appearance in the UEFA Champions League in close to a year. Dani Olmo also made his return from injury.
Barça Universal brings you three talking points from Barcelona 4-1 Bayern Munich.
Solace, at last
What Bayern Munich means to Barcelona is something only players and fans of the club can truly understand. Real Madrid may be their arch-rivals, but the Bavarians have established themselves as a real nemesis for the Catalans in recent years.
From the 8-2 humiliation in Lisbon that broke Barcelona mentally and traumatised them for years to come to repeatedly drawing the Germans in the group stage and suffering defeat after defeat, any game against them became a test of fire for the Blaugrana.
It is only poetic that Barcelona announce their return to the European elite in their first big match of the season this term against Bayern Munich.
What makes the win sweeter is the fact that it was not just a victory but an utter and complete demolition.
Hansi Flick’s men indeed were under pressure for the better part of the first half and required some time to settle into the game after Harry Kane’s equaliser. The second half from Barcelona, however, was pure domination.
Once the men in garnet-and-blue were back in their mojo, they seemed unstoppable and the scoreline could well have been more skewed in their favour.
For all the Barcelona fans, players, academy graduates and the administration, the win over Bayern Munich brings solace after long.
It marks the end of the team’s endless suffering against elite European teams and proves that Hansi Flick’s side are on the right track heading into El Clasico.
It is Raphinha’s world, and we are just living in it
Raphinha has always been a big game player for Barcelona and it was evident even from his performance against PSG last season. However, the Brazilian has seldom got the recognition he deserves for stepping up under pressure.
This season, the captain has been one of the team’s best players from day 1 and his display last night was one that will go down in the club’s history books.
What Raphinha pulled off last night was perhaps the single-most clutch performance from any Barcelona player since Lionel Messi. He was imperious through the 90 minutes, clinical with every chance and ruthless in his pressure off the ball.
The Brazilian opened the scoring early in the game with a stunning counterattack stemmed from a Fermin Lopez pass and showed great composure to get past Manuel Neuer.
He completed his brace in the dying minutes of the first half with a great finish from distance, firing the ball between Upamecano’s legs into the far corner and topping it off by completing his hat-trick in the second half with yet another stupendous finish.
Masterclasses in abundance
Barcelona’s win last night was indeed pioneered by Raphinha’s hat-trick but a win of such proportions against an elite team like Bayern Munich demands an all round performance from all eleven players on the field.
Indeed, Flick’s side delivered in every position that mattered with some players standing out more than others. Pedri, Lamine Yamal and Marc Casado were three such players who produced masterclasses.
Pedri, on the night, proved why he is one of the world’s best midfielders and was simply untouchable even under pressure.
His ability to wriggle out of tight situations and still find the right pass is unparalleled and it is clear that he is only getting better with every passing day. On the night, he was one of the best players in the team.
Yamal, meanwhile, did not involve in attack as much as he would have liked but was instrumental in switching the play and maintaining possession under pressure.
The youngster constantly looked to pick passes to beat Bayern’s high defensive line and conjured up peaches of passes, setting up Raphinha’s third goal and even playing Lewandowski through on goal on a couple of occasions.
The third player who dished out a masterclass was Marc Casado who simply was enormous against Bayern Munich.
Casado was everywhere on the field, winning duels and breaking the visitors’ possession and racked up 12 defensive actions on the night. He stood up against the Bavarians’ pressure and only improved after the break, announcing his arrival on the big stage.