Barcelona finished with a hat trick by Raphinha and secured a 4–1 victory over Bayern Munich in a powerhouse matchup in the Champions League on Wednesday.
It’s quite a run for the Spanish side, which has won nine of their first 10 matches in La Liga.
The Brazilian Raphinha needed less than a minute to give Barcelona the lead when he took a through ball from Fermín López and scored just behind the Germans’ defense. English international Harry Kane tied the game in the 18th minute for Bayern Munich (1–0–2).
However, Barcelona (2–0–1) answered with goals from Robert Lewandowski in the 36th minute and another by Raphinha just before halftime.
Raphinha added a three-goal cushion and completed the hat trick with another goal in the 56th minute.
Champions League favorite Manchester City routed Sparta Prague 5–0. Erling Haaland, widely regarded as the best striker in Europe, scored a pair of goals in the 58th and 68th minute from his left and right foot. Phil Foden opened the scoring for Manchester City in the third minute and John Stones added another goal in the 64th minute. Matheus Nunes rounded out the scoring with an 88th-minute penalty.
Other Games
Lille 3, Atletico Madrid 1:The Spanish power took advantage of a mistake by Lille defender Ousmane Touré, who tried to pass the ball back to the goalkeeper but saw it intercepted by Julián Álvarez for an easy goal in the eighth minute. However, the French side stormed back and took the lead on goals by Edon Zhegrova in the 61st minute and a 74th-minute penalty by Jonathan David, who scored again just before the final whistle. Lille improved to 2–0–1, while Atletico Madrid is now 1–0–2.
Atalanta was dominant but neither club could finish their scoring opportunities. The Serie A outshot its Scottish opponents 22–4, but Celtic goalie Kasper Schmeichel had six saves. Atalanta is 1–2–0, while Celtic is 1–1–1.
In a battle of unbeaten teams, neither Brest nor Bayer Leverkusen found separation. Leverkusen took the lead on a goal by German international Florian Wirtz in the 24th minute. Wirtz collected a through ball from Jonas Hofmann and slatted the ball from outside the box into the left corner of the goal. Brest answered in the 39th minute when Pierre Lees-Melou scored from outside the penalty area. Both teams are 2–1–0.
The Italians were challenged by the upstart squad from Switzerland. Marcus Thuram provided the winner for Inter Milan (2–1–0) just minutes before the final whistle when his left-footed shot sailed past Young Boys goalkeeper David Von Ballmoos. Young Boys are winless at 0–0–3.
The Croatian side earned its first win of the competition with an impressive performance. After a scoreless first half, Sandro Kulenovic scored the go-ahead goal in the 49th minute and then Bruno Petkovic put the game away by scoring in the 84th minute. Dinamo Zagreb improved to 1–1–1, while Salzburg remained winless at 0–0–3.
The English Premier League power got all it could handle against Leipzig. Darwin Núñez gave Liverpool (3–0–0) the lead in the 27th but that’s all it could muster against Leipzig, which remained winless at 0–0–3.
The Dutch squad (2–0–1) started fast with first-half goals by Ayase Ueda in the 12th minute and another by Antoni Milambo in the 33rd minute and handed the Portuguese side its first loss of the competition. Milambo added another goal in the 90th minute. Kerem Aktürkoglu scored for Benfica (2–0–1).
