The Barcelona forward, Lamine Yamal, stated that the Catalan team was "very eager" to face Bayern Munich, a rival they defeated 4-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday.

"It was a very important match. In such an important week as this, winning 4-1 against a rival like Bayern, whom we were very eager to beat, makes us very happy," the Spanish international admitted in statements to Movistar+.

Lamine Yamal emphasized that Barcelona had the ambition to assert themselves in the Champions League: "This season, we’ve been very good, full of confidence, but there was always the chatter about what would happen in the Champions League, and we wanted to show that we are a great team and we are very united."

The Barcelona forward rated his team's performance as "outstanding" in "a very important match," and on the other hand, he highlighted that he "really liked" the performances of midfielders Marc Casadó and Pedro González 'Pedri,' who, in his opinion, "decided the match."

How did Barcelona fare against Bayern Munich?

Barcelona has returned to the elite. This was confirmed on Wednesday as they buried their old ghosts against their 'boogeyman' in Europe, Bayern Munich, whom they mercilessly defeated 4-1, led by an excellent Raphinha, who spearheaded the Catalan exorcism with a spectacular hat trick.

The Olympic Mountain was buzzing with the atmosphere of great European nights long before kickoff. It was a magical atmosphere that hadn’t been felt since the team’s move to Montjuïc, forged in the confidence the Barça of Flick has earned through hard work.

The Catalan side was on fire, facing their first significant test in a match that held great symbolism for the German coach, who led Bayern to a historic sextuple in 2020, famously eliminating Barcelona from the Champions League with a 2-8 result.

In the clash, two similar playing styles were challenged, and the two hottest strikers in European football were also in action: Polish Robert Lewandowski, who faced his former team, and Englishman Harry Kane, with German Thomas Müller—who scored eight goals in nine matches against the Catalan side—as a luxury support.

Müller was chosen by Kompany to replace the talented Musiala, who was not fit for the match due to hip issues, while Flick opted for the vigor of Fermín to accompany Casadó and Pedri in the Barcelona midfield.

The match quickly tilted in favor of Barça, who took the lead within two minutes in a combination between Lewandowski, Pedri, and Fermín, who spotted Raphinha's run, providing him the ball to dribble past Neuer and send it to the back of the net.

In his centenary as a Barça player, Raphinha celebrated his first star appearance of the night as if he had scored the winning goal of the final, but the hosts wouldn’t approach the visitors' area for the next twenty minutes. Bayern seemed unfazed by the early goal and, being more diligent in pressing after losing the ball than their opponent, laid siege to the Barça goal.

Kane had a chance ten minutes in, heading a cross from Müller towards goal, but Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic disallowed it for offside.

Eight minutes later, the British '9' found the back of Iñaki Peña’s net again, this time in an onside position with an acrobatic volley at the far post after a cross from Gnabry on the left.

The ghosts of the recent past hovered over Montjuïc, but Flick's Barça, which had until then resembled the old, insecure version of the team, showed no signs of fear.

The equalizer awakened the Catalan side, who finally began to control the ball and recover it in the opposing half to unleash their intense and sharp football, even against Bayern itself.

A shot from the edge of the area by Lewandowski went wide of Neuer’s right post, and a mistake in ball distribution by the visiting goalkeeper almost allowed Lamine Yamal to capitalize on it right in front of goal, confirming the Catalan team's improvement.

The reward of a goal would arrive again in the 35th minute when Fermín won the duel against Kim Min-Jae and, as Neuer rushed out, laid the ball off for Lewandowski to finish at his leisure.

The goal was heavily protested by Bayern, who claimed a foul on the jump by the Barça midfielder, but the dizzying pace of a match played at full throttle would still yield another stunning goal right before halftime.

Once again, a flying Raphinha controlled a forty-meter pass from Casadó to approach the edge of the area, face Guerreiro and Upamecano, and unleashed a curling rocket into the far corner of Neuer’s net, igniting madness in the Lluís Companys stadium, which began to chant his name.

Bayern seemed to come out better than Barcelona again after the break, and Palinha warned with a shot that went over the bar following a clearance from the local defense.

However, in a match between two teams that always defend forward and whose defenses teeter on the edge of the precipice throughout the game, anything can happen.

And again, Raphinha was the one who found the crack to slip through. The filtered pass to the back of the visiting defense was received by Lamine Yamal, and the Brazilian, who was the captain this Wednesday, took care of the rest with a crossed shot after weaving between Kim Min-Jae and Upamecano, surpassing Neuer just before the half-hour mark.

With the score at 4-1, Kompany made a desperate triple substitution, bringing on Musiala, Goretzka, and Coman with the aim of increasing possession and firepower in the final half hour.

But by this point in the match, Barça was already enjoying its return to the elite against a team that had defeated them in their last six encounters—eleven overall—out of the fifteen matches between the two until that night.

With Cubarsí and Iñigo Martínez imperious, keeping Bayern’s forwards at bay, Casadó battling for every ball tirelessly, and Yamal and Pedri showcasing their silky football, the Catalan side cut off any possibility of reaction from the Munich team, which only approached Iñaki Peña’s goal with a couple of long-range shots.

In the match's closing moments, Flick dedicated his efforts to resting his core players with an eye on the classic match next Saturday against Real Madrid. The Bernabéu seems like the ideal setting to send the message once again: Barça is back.