Barca rout Bayern, Liverpool stay perfect in CL

Associated Press Barcelona: It was a great night for English clubs, and for Barcelona captain Raphinha. Premier League leader Liverpool moved level on points with Aston Villa at the top of the Champions League standings Wednesday by extending its perfect record to three wins, and Manchester City set a new record for the most consecutive games undefeated in the history of the competition. Liverpool edged Leipzig 1-0 with a goal from Darwin Nunez. City routed Sparta Prague 5-0 with Erling Haaland scoring twice.

Raphinha scored a hat trick as Barcelona finally beat Bayern Munich to end a series of six consecutive wins for the German team in their head-to-head meetings that included a humiliating 8-2 loss for Barca in the quarterfinals in 2020. This time, Barcelona came out on top of an entertaining contest with a 4-1 statement win. After three rounds in the revamped tournament, Liverpool and Aston Villa have a two-point lead over seven clubs including Man City and another Premier League team, Arsenal. The four English teams in the competition have conceded just one goal combined so far.

Raphinha on a roll In Barcelona, the hosts opened the scoring within a minute as Raphinha was found by Fermin Lopez's through ball, then rounded Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer with ease. Bayern leveled the score with Harry Kane's volley, but Barcelona responded with one goal from former Bayern great Robert Lewandowski and two more from Raphinha, who was later substituted to a standing ovation. It was Barcelona's first win over Bayern since the 2015 Champions League semifinals.

Barcelona came into the game without having scored in its four games against Bayern since an 8-2 loss in 2020. Barcelona coach Hansi Flick was Bayern's coach in that game. “It could have been a Champions League final. Winning like this, in front of our fans, is the best," Raphinha said.