Barcelona humiliated Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, largely thanks to three ‘exceptional’ young midfielders.

While Raphinha will rightly receive plaudits for his excellent hat-trick, Barcelona’s victory was down to the tireless work of Marc Casado, Pedri and Fermin Lopez in the middle.

All three are only 21 years old, while two of them are lucky to even be in the squad.

“If Barcelona had had the money, they would have had Bernardo Silva, they would have kept Ilkay Gundogan and those two would have played,” Spanish football expert Guillem Balague told the BBC MOTD Champions League Highlights show.

“Those who are injured like Gavi, Andreas Christensen and Frenkie de Jong would have played for two of these three. Only Pedri would have been in the starting line-up.”

Instead, it’s Casado and Lopez who team up with Pedri and slowly become household names.

After Bayern’s experienced trio kept Thomas Müller, Joshua Kimmich and Joao Palhinha – who have won 21 league titles between them – at bay, Barcelona may have stumbled upon the perfect three midfielders.

Who formed Barca’s youthful midfield trio?

Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock called the trio “exceptional” and said they “made Barcelona play all the time”.

Casado, who Warnock said had a natural ‘understanding of how to read danger’, was the deepest of the three midfielders, protecting the defense and winning the ball back for his side.

The former Barcelona B captain only made his first Barcelona start this season but has become a regular for Haasi Flick’s side. He has featured in all their Champions League games this season, adding an assist on Wednesday.

“Casado played twice for Xavi last season and Xavi was told that if you put Casado into the team enough he wouldn’t get out,” Balague said.

“Xavi thought he was too short for a midfielder, but he is now in.”

Just in front of Casado was Pedri, already a superstar and a true champion of transition, constantly receiving the ball from his defenders and playing it forward.

Pedri joined Barca from Las Palmas in 2020 at the age of 16, won the Golden Boy award in 2021 and eventually signed a contract extension with a release clause of 1 billion euros that same year.

And finally, Lopez completed the midfield trio, playing as a number 10.

The youngster was given a license to come forward against Bayern and often ended up as the player who came furthest forward as he assisted on both Barca’s first and second goals.

“Lopez’s insight into when to cut short and when to become the second striker is brilliant,” said Warnock.

There was more youthful brilliance for Barcelona from the bench as 20-year-old Gavi, who won the 2022 Golden Boy award and is recovering from injury, came into action for the final five minutes.

In addition, 17-year-old winger Lamine Yamal played the ball wide and also grabbed an assist, allowing Raphinha to score his hat-trick.

The future looks bright for Barcelona.

Watch highlights of every Champions League match on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app from 10pm on Wednesday.

There is also a Champions League Match of the Day on Wednesday on BBC One, from 10.40pm to 12am.