Bayern have 'a lot of fun' at Nou Camp

BARCELONA • No one enjoys playing against Barcelona more than Thomas Muller.

He has scored more Champions League goals against the Catalans than any other player and the 32-year-old tormented them again on Tuesday.

The German nabbed his seventh strike in six meetings with Barcelona as Bayern Munich trounced the hosts 3-0 in their Group E opener at the Nou Camp.

The scoreline was not quite as damning for Barca as their last contest - the 8-2 drubbing the German champions gave them in the quarter-finals two seasons ago - but the performance was just as hopeless. The Catalans were routinely dispossessed and struggled to cope with the visitors' intensity.

Robert Lewandowski added a further two goals as the Bavarians condemned Ronald Koeman's men to their third straight home defeat in Europe - a new low - while conceding 10 goals.

As the home fans despaired at the gulf in class, Bayern revelled in another dominant performance after holding Barca to zero shots on target for the first time this season.

Julian Nagelsmann's men are the team Koeman's side fear after recording their seventh win in 10 meetings, a point Muller made.

"It seems I like to score against Barca," the 2014 World Cup winner said with a wink.

"Barca as a playing team is allowing more spaces for strikers. That seems perfect for a player like me.

"It's a lot of fun playing here, the boys enjoyed it. When you win 3-0 here, it's a really important signal. We're really pleased.

"We gave very little away at the back and going forward, we could have scored one or two more."

19 Unbeaten away games record for Bayern Munich in Champions League, including 15 wins. The previous best was 16, set by Manchester United.

This was Barca's first Champions League game in front of home supporters and their first European match in the post-Lionel Messi era.

But the pandemic-restricted support of 40,000 were left with even more questions about the immediate future of the club, whose financial struggles are well known.

With Dynamo Kiev and Benfica, who drew 0-0, in the same group, Barca will still be fancied to finish runners-up behind six-time European Cup winners Bayern.

However, most pundits do not expect their Champions League journey to go much further than that - if they do make it to the knockout phase - and Koeman and his players admitted this will be a transition season.

The Dutchman said: "I can't complain about the team's attitude but there's a big difference in quality between the two teams.

"They're (Bayern) a team that has been playing together for a long time and they were even stronger when they brought players off the bench.

"We obviously wanted to compete better but it's what we have. I can't fault the effort of the players."

Loud boos could be heard at half-time but things got more desperate for Barca after the break, and by the end of the game their fans were sarcastically applauding the team whenever they managed to recover the ball.

Gerard Pique had a tone of resignation as he reflected on another humbling defeat.

The defender said: "We are what we are, I'm sure we're going to compete again later in the season even though it's going to be a difficult year.

"Overall, I think the scoreline was a bit unfair but we cannot kid ourselves, they were far better than us."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS