Barcelona's Raphinha says Bayern's defeat is “revenge” for the fans

Barcelona striker Raphinha said Wednesday's stunning 4-1 Champions League win over Bayern Munich was “revenge” for the club's fans for past results against the German giants.

Raphinha scored a hat-trick in his 100th appearance for Barça, ending a run of six consecutive defeats against Bayern in the competition.

The Brazilian only attended two of those games – and he hadn't signed for Barça when they lost 8-2 to Bayern in 2020 – but he said he experienced them all as a fan.

“I think it was revenge for the fans,” Raphinha said after the game. “For us inside, the players, we don’t look at the past. We're concentrating on the next game. But I also experienced these games as a fan.”

“It was a great, special evening, I scored a hat-trick in my 100th game for the club. I am very happy with the performance and our game.”

“As a team we played really well and that’s the most important thing for me. The second victory in the Champions League was important.”

Barça and Bayern both went into the game at the Olympic Stadium with one win and one loss from their opening Champions League games this season. Given the uncertainty about how many points will be needed to progress in the new Champions League, it is therefore essential not to give up even more points in this format.

Raphinha opened the scoring in the first minute, but Harry Kane equalized for Bayern with his 14th goal of the season in all competitions.

Robert Lewandowski restored Barça's lead before half-time and two more goals from Raphinha either side of the break gave Barça the points in a game that the former Leeds United attacker believes could have been the final.

“I said before the game that it could be a Champions League final,” he added. “Maybe not everyone agrees with me, but in my opinion it could be.”

“To be able to win in this way in front of our fans is very special and I’m really happy.”

Raphinha, who captained Barça that night, now has nine goals and six assists in all competitions in his third season at Barça Blaugrana. For his performance, he was named MVP by UEFA.

“I will give my son the MVP award, it will be another trophy for him even though he prefers the match points,” he joked. “But it is a trophy that shows what I can do in the Champions League. Since I signed, I’ve been dreaming about these nights: scoring goals, playing these games and making a difference.”

The victory prepares Barça perfectly for the first game on Saturday at Real Madrid classic of the season. If they win at the Santiago Bernabéu they could extend a six-point lead at the top of the table.

Coach Hansi Flick, who led Bayern to an 8-2 victory four years ago, praised an “incredible” win against his former team but dampened expectations of winning the Champions League as he looked ahead to the game against Madrid.

“No, it's too early, we've just started the season,” he said in a press conference when asked if the result makes Barça a real contender to win the trophy. “We are on a long journey in LaLiga and the Champions League. We take things one game at a time. We are of course very proud of the result tonight, but we have another tough game on Saturday.”

“We want to deliver a top performance again. It's an incredible result against a fantastic team and gives us confidence for Saturday. I am very proud of the team. We saw the joy of the team and how they celebrated.”

It was a different story for Bayern, who suffered a defeat in the Champions League for the second time in a row after losing at Aston Villa last time out.

Coach Vincent Kompany had little to complain about the result but said there were moments around Kane's equalizer when he believed his team could take points from the game.

“What I can share at the moment is how we felt about the game at the start or in the first half compared to what we thought we could achieve in this game,” Kompany said in a press conference. “I think all of us, and you would have felt it too, felt that we could win this game, that it could turn things around for us.”

“But in crucial moments we overtook each other and for that reason the result is quite difficult. We have to learn from this game so that we can be stronger in the next opportunities we have.”