Barcelona forward Raphinha said Wednesday’s thumping 4-1 Champions League victory over Bayern Munich served as “revenge” for the club’s supporters for previous results against the German giants.

Raphinha scored a hat-trick in his 100th appearance for Barca as the Catalan club ended a run of six consecutive defeats to Bayern in the league.

The Brazilian was only there for two of those games – and he had not signed for Barca when they lost 8-2 to Bayern in 2020 – but he said he experienced them all as a supporter.

“It was revenge for the fans, I think,” Raphinha said after the match. “For us on the inside, the players, we don’t look at the past. We concentrate on the next match. But I also experienced those matches as a fan.

“It was a great, special night, scoring (a hat-trick) in my 100th game for the club. I’m really happy with the performance and the way we played.”

“As a team we played very well and that is the most important thing for me. Getting that second win in the Champions League was important.”

Barca and Bayern both came into action at the Olympic Stadium with one win and one defeat in their opening Champions League games this season, making it imperative not to drop any more points given the uncertainty over how many will be needed to progress in the new competition. format.

Raphinha opened the scoring in the first minute, but Harry Kane leveled Bayern with his fourteenth goal of the season in all competitions.

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

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

“So to be able to win like this, in front of our fans, is very special and I’m very happy.”

Raphinha, who captained Barca that night, now has nine goals and six assists in all competitions in what is his third season at the club. Blaugrana. For his performances, he was named MVP by UEFA.

“I will give the MVP award to my son, it will be another trophy for him even though he prefers game balls,” he joked. “But it is a trophy that shows what I can do in the Champions League. Ever since I signed, I have been dreaming of these evenings: scoring goals, playing these games and making a difference.”

The victory sets Barça up perfectly for Saturday’s first trip to Real Madrid Classic of the season. If they win at the Santiago Bernabeu, they can open a six-point lead at the top of the table.

Coach Hansi Flick, who took charge of Bayern at 8-2 four years ago, hailed an ‘incredible’ win against his former side but tempered expectations of winning the Champions League as he looked ahead to the clash against Madrid.

“No, it’s too early, we just started the season,” he said at a press conference when asked if the result makes Barca a real contender to win the trophy. “We are on a long road in LaLiga and in the Champions League. We are taking things one match at a time. We are obviously very proud of the result tonight, but it continues on Saturday with another tough match.

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

It was a different story for Bayern, who tasted defeat for the second leg of the Champions League after the previous defeat against Aston Villa.

Coach Vincent Kompany had few complaints about the result, but said there were moments around Kane’s equalizer when he thought his side could take points from the match.

“What I can share at this moment is how we felt the game went at the beginning or in the first half versus what we thought we could achieve in this game,” Kompany said at a news conference. “I think all of us, and you would have felt it too, felt that we could give this game an edge, that it could turn things around for us.

“But we were outmatched at key moments and for that reason the result is quite tough. We have to learn from this match so that we are stronger again for the next opportunities we get.”