Barcelona head coach Xavi believes "everyone is prepared" as he highlighted the importance of squad players after the 3-0 victory over 10-man Elche at Camp Nou.

Memphis Depay's strike and Robert Lewandowski's double saw Barca cruise to a fifth win in their opening six La Liga games, while adding a fourth consecutive league clean sheet.

The three points moved them top of the table ahead of Sunday's Madrid derby, and Xavi believes squad depth will be vital as Barcelona bid to land their first LaLiga title since the 2018-19 campaign.

"We are a broad squad, in which everyone trains well. Everyone is prepared and plugged in when the team needs it, and that's what's important," Xavi said.

"It's an atypical year with a tight schedule. We won't rest for a few weeks, and we need everyone. It's about making a group. Whoever plays, the team is up to the task.

"We have plenty to choose from, many options, and in the end the squads are the ones that win the titles, not the starting 11."

Two of Barcelona's best performers against LaLiga's bottom side were youngsters Alejandro Balde and Pedri, and Xavi was full of praise for the teenage pair.

"He [Pedri] is one of the best who's come through here. He understands the game, makes a difference with the pass, doesn't lose the ball. We have to take care of him," the 42-year-old Xavi said.

"They [Elche] did a lot of individual marking and Balde can generate superiority inside and out. It is surprising that an 18-year-old boy plays at that level.

"He's in great physical condition, and he's going to give us a lot."

Barcelona went top of LaLiga as a Memphis Depay strike and Robert Lewandowski's double saw them cruise to a 3-0 victory against 10-man Elche at Camp Nou.

Elche captain Gonzalo Verdu was sent off after just 14 minutes, before Lewandowski and Depay put Xavi’s side 2-0 up at the break.

Lewandowski grabbed his second of the game after the interval to make it 11 goals in all competitions since his arrival from Bayern Munich as Barca eased to victory.

Victory continued Barca's unbeaten start to the domestic season as they moved top ahead of Sunday's Madrid derby.

Verdu was dismissed for cynically dragging down Lewandowski after Frenkie de Jong put the striker through on goal.

Edgar Badia made numerous saves to keep the hosts out, but the Catalans eventually capitalised on their numerical advantage with 34 minutes gone when Lewandowski tapped in Alejandro Balde's cross.

Depay made it 2-0 soon after, lashing into the roof of the net after bamboozling John Donald with a brilliant turn.

Barca thought they were three up before the break when Pedri bundled in, but the midfielder was offside in the build-up.

Lewandowski scored his second just after half-time, rifling into the bottom-left corner after the ball fell to him in the box. 

The Poland international nearly had his hat-trick when seeing a drive saved by the legs of Badia, before skimming the crossbar with another attempt.

But those misses mattered little as Barca eased to another win.

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer believes his side were "lucky" not to concede to Robert Lewandowski on his return to Bavaria.

The Poland international has been in sensational form since joining Barcelona, scoring a hat-trick on his Champions League debut for the Blaugrana against Viktoria Plzen last week, but he was unable to add to his tally at the Allianz Arena.

Lewandowski was thwarted by former team-mate Neuer from a close-range header after he had squandered an opportunity on the volley, blazing his attempt over the crossbar.

Both chances could have easily been taken by Lewandowski, and Neuer admitted that Bayern had benefitted from good fortune in their 2-0 victory.

"I think it was an emotional game for Lewy because he was very successful here in Munich. But we also know him as an opponent. Luck was not on his side in crucial moments," he told reporters.

"We're lucky that he sent that volley over the bar and I was there in the second chance. We showed a good defensive performance today."

Julian Nagelsmann also thought Lewandowski performed well despite failing to find the back of the net, acknowledging the majority of the pre-match talk centred on Bayern's reunion with the striker.

"I think he played a good game, I'm happy from our perspective that he didn't score. We saw that he was dangerous, we were able to defend him very well," he said.

"I saw him after the game and hugged him but he plays for a different club now, I have a lot of players I have to look out for.

"This week, I probably had 60 questions on Lewandowski, you can pose those questions to Xavi because he's not my player anymore."

Barcelona head coach Xavi, meanwhile, believes Lewandowski did not get overwhelmed by the occasion, stating: "I don't think he could have been pressured, with his maturity and experience. 

"It is a lack of effectiveness. It's football and this happens. And it happens in the stadium where it couldn't happen."

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

So that proved in Tuesday's Champions League clash at the Allianz Arena, a match billed as Robert Lewandowski's reunion with Bayern Munich, the club he left for Barcelona in a €50million deal just two months ago.

Yet in the end, the Poland international failed to make the impact many had predicted on his return to Bavaria, on a night of disappointment for Barca against opponents they must simply hate the sight of.

Two goals in the space of four minutes early in the second half from Lucas Hernandez and Leroy Sane proved the difference between the sides as Bayern made it five wins in a row against the Catalans by an aggregate 19-4 scoreline.

Going further back, this was Barca's ninth Champions League loss to Bayern, which is now more than twice as many as they have suffered against any other opponent in the competition (four v Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea).

Julian Nagelsmann had called on his Bayern side to "put on a show" amid growing doubts over his own future on the back of three successive league draws, Bayern's longest wait for victory in the Bundesliga in four years.

For 45 enthralling minutes, the hosts were second best and rather grateful that their former hero Lewandowski had stage fright on his first trip back to this ground.

The prolific striker had five shots alone in the first half, which was one more than the entire Bayern side, equating to an expected goals (xG) return of 0.5 compared to 0.3 for the hosts.

Lewandowski would have expected to capitalise during his time at Bayern – he scored 344 times in 375 appearances for the German giants – but this proved to be a rare off-day.

He also failed to get his head on Joshua Kimmich's delightful corner that was instead met by Hernandez for the opening goal of the contest. At that point, Barca had conceded 16 goals from the past 30 shots on target faced against Bayern in the Champions League.

That soon became 17 goals from 31 shots on target thanks to Sane's goal after the winger was played in by the ever-improving Jamal Musiala, who himself would not look out of place in the Barca side Xavi is desperately attempting to mould.

Going down 2-0 to Bayern is far from irreparably damaging from Xavi's perspective, even if it does end an unbeaten start to the season spanning six matches. If ever there was a game to truly gauge how far his side have come this season, this was very much it.

It was only a little over nine months ago that Xavi described a 3-0 loss in this fixture as "a harsh reality" for his side. Just weeks into the job, the club legend acknowledged Europa League-bound Barca could not consider themselves among Europe's elite clubs at that point.

The performance produced by Barcelona in the first half on Tuesday offered plenty of promise. They may not be back at their very best just yet, but the signs of improvement on the back of a busy transfer window are clear to see.

And while this game did not quite follow the script from Lewandowski's perspective, the former fan favourite – who finished the match with seven attempts and an xG of 0.8 – will have a second chance to inflict some pain on his old side when they face off again at Camp Nou next month.

Yet on the basis of this latest tussle between the heavyweight clubs, it seems no matter what ploy Barca take – even if that means nabbing their opponents' best player – the outcome will remain the same. Now that is a harsh lesson.

Robert Lewandowski's return to Bayern Munich was not a fruitful endeavour as a wasteful Barcelona were swept aside in a 2-0 Champions League defeat.

Second-half goals from Lucas Hernandez and Leroy Sane condemned Xavi's side to yet another loss in Bavaria, a historically poor hunting ground for the Catalan giants.

Barcelona were unable to capitalise on a dominant first half, with Lewandowski spurning some fine opportunities, while Pedri struck the post after the visitors had fallen two behind.

A fightback never appeared likely, with Bayern producing a stellar display in the second period after a frustrating first 45 minutes.

After an end-to-end start, Barcelona looked the more threatening, with Pedri forcing Manuel Neuer to make a smart save and Lewandowski passing up a chance on the volley.

Lewandowski, ever the threat, then saw a header from close range saved well, while Raphinha dragged a low shot wide from outside the box.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen was belatedly called into action early in the second half as Leon Goretzka tested his compatriot from distance, and the resulting corner provided the breakthrough.

Joshua Kimmich's delivery to the near post was met by the head of Hernandez, escaping Marcos Alonso's attention and applying contact ahead of Ter Stegen.

And the lead was doubled four minutes later when Jamal Musiala fed Sane, who raced away and poked a deft finish into the net.

Pedri clipped the upright after a one-two with Lewandowski created space in the area, yet that was as close as Barca would come on another difficult night.

Barcelona sporting director Jordi Cruyff insisted the side's host of new additions joined in order to "follow their dream" as he hit out at criticism of the Blaugrana's transfer policy.

Despite concerns regarding the club's finances, Barcelona acquired Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Kounde, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, Hector Bellerin and Marcos Alonso during a busy transfer window.

Xavi's new-look team have impressed this season, taking 13 points from their first five matches in LaLiga, but many onlookers were surprised by their ability to outmanoeuvre their rivals in the market.

Raphinha and Kounde, for instance, were both strongly linked with Chelsea before arriving at Camp Nou. Cruyff, however, insists Barca retain a unique draw.

"Barcelona has a magnet, it is beautiful," Cruyff told Guillem Balague ahead of the Cruyff Legacy Summit.

"You can see the pride in the eyes of the players when they get a chance to sign for Barcelona and that has helped a lot, being able to compete with clubs with bigger budgets and better salaries.

"They wanted to sign for Barcelona, and we are very grateful for these players because, believe me, they had better offers than us.

"And still they chose to follow their dream to be part of history. When you see the eyes shining in these players you know you are in a special place."

LaLiga's strict salary controls meant Barca were forced to wait to register some of their new signings, with Kounde sitting out the club's opening league game as they attempted to streamline their squad.

However, Cruyff believes those who criticised the club's transfer policy lack understanding, adding: "I have noticed 99 per cent of the people don't understand Spanish financial fair play, how to fit that puzzle.

"It is something you won't understand in one hour, it is more complex and complicated. Even when you have money, you can't spend it.

"The news that has come out about us is not always accurate, and I understand people listen to that and think what Barcelona has done is maybe not elegant.

"That is a question of understanding fair play. Our job was to, inside the strict rules of Spanish football, improve the team. Now we have a squad that can compete with everything."

Cruyff also believes Barcelona's purchases were made with the future in mind, adding: "Most of the players we have brought in have a lot of years in front [of them], have a transfer value.

"We have made financially good decisions because you can see in the last week of the window how values have gone up.

"We have a squad for the future. The future is here and the present is here. We have things we need to improve, but the club had to make that decision in the summer.

"January 2022 was not a moment to buy four or five players and repair what we needed to repair. In January we looked at the short term, now we looked at short, middle and long term.

"The team has started really well, with the manager doing a really good job. He has a positive headache... he has a good squad to choose from.

"If that continues the right way, the city is alive again. Even for the smaller games, it's a sell-out and that shows the mood. You see how the people are so happy with the players that have joined. You feel it is alive again, and this club needed that."

It is not a reunion that any Bayern Munich fan will be relishing when Robert Lewandowski returns to the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.

Just a few months ago they were cheering goal after goal the Poland striker was scoring for their team, something he had done with tremendous consistency ever since arriving from Borussia Dortmund.

Then came the news none of them will have wanted to hear, that Lewandowski wanted a new challenge.

After a surprising amount of unpleasantness between player and club during the transfer window, the 34-year-old got his wish and made the move to Barcelona for a reported fee of €50million.

With a sense of inevitability as the balls were opened by former Barca midfielder Yaya Toure during the draw for the group stage of the Champions League, who should Bayern be joined by in Group C along with Inter and Viktoria Plzen? Of course, Barcelona.

Ahead of Lewandowski lining up on the opposing side in Munich, Stats Perform has taken a look at what he achieved at Bayern, and how both parties have adapted in the early stages of the new campaign.

The man they called "Lewan-goal-ski" (well, Thomas Muller did)

Of course, Bayern could not feel too bad about having their main goalscorer taken from them, considering that is exactly what they did to chief Bundesliga rivals Dortmund when they signed Lewandowski on a free transfer in 2014.

Inevitably, it turned out to be a key move as BVB fell away after struggling to replace him, while Lewandowski went on to score an exceptional number of goals at his new home.

Overall, he scored 344 goals and recorded 57 assists in 375 appearances for Bayern, and in the 2020-21 campaign, he broke Gerd Muller's long-standing Bundesliga record by scoring 41 times in a single season, while his 43 league goals in 2021 serve as the record for a calendar year in Germany's top tier.

Last season, Lewandowski scored 50 goals across all competitions, the most across Europe's top five leagues, as Bayern lifted their 10th Bundesliga title in a row.

In all, he won eight league titles, three DFB-Pokal's, as well as a Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

After that, it was 'Lewan-gone-ski', as team-mate Thomas Muller may well have called him after his departure, before holding far too long for applause.

What is 11 minus a nine?

With arguably the best number nine in the game gone, Bayern head coach Julian Nagelsmann wanted to evolve his team, making them less reliant on one figure for so many goals and spreading the responsibility.

Sadio Mane joined from Liverpool as the de facto replacement, and before the DFL-Super Cup win against RB Leipzig, Nagelsmann admitted: "When we agreed to Barcelona's offer [for Lewandowski], it was planned that we might not sign anyone else for this position."

The theory was that the likes of Mane, Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry, fresh from signing a new contract, could increase their output in front of goal, while the ever reliable Muller and the increasingly promising Jamal Musiala would also be potent sources.

Things certainly started well enough with a 5-3 win against Leipzig, followed by a 6-1 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt in their opening Bundesliga game.

After a 2-0 victory at home to Wolfsburg, Bayern put seven past Bochum and talk of a lack of goals could not have been further from anyone's lips.

However, three draws in a row in the league against Borussia Monchengladbach, Union Berlin and Stuttgart have followed, which has seen Union emerge as the surprise Bundesliga leaders after six games.

In those games, Bayern have scored a total of 19 goals, with 10 different scorers, registering 12 points in the Bundesliga.

By comparison, in their first six league games last season when Lewandowski was still front and centre for them, they scored 23 goals, though with only seven different scorers, and the Pole providing seven goals of his own, and had 16 points after five wins and just one draw.

In their opening Champions League game, though, Nagelsmann's men put in a terrific performance as they beat Inter 2-0 at San Siro, with their second goal in particular showcasing the sort of passing and moving around the box that feels more possible when you don't have an orthodox number nine as the obvious target.

Lewandowski picks up in Spain where he left off in Germany

Though it took a bit of, shall we say, moving things around so Barcelona could register their new star striker, along with a number of other signings in the transfer window, there has been very little adaptation needed for Lewandowski in LaLiga.

He has already scored six goals in his first five league games, making him the fastest player to reach that figure in the competition in the 21st century.

The forward also has two assists, which makes him the joint-fastest to have been involved in eight goals in the 21st century, alongside former Barca players Rafael van der Vaart in 2008 and Cesc Fabregas in 2011.

Lewandowski also added three more goals to his impressive total in the Champions League with a hat-trick in Barca's 5-1 win against Viktoria Plzen at Camp Nou last week.

That made him outright third in the competition's all-time leading scorers with 89 goals in 107 appearances, behind only Lionel Messi (125 goals in 157 games) and Cristiano Ronaldo (140 goals in 183 games).

Of course, Lewandowski has recent history of this fixture, playing for Bayern as they beat Barca 3-0 home and away in last season's Champions League group stage, scoring twice in the first game in Spain.

It played a big part in the Catalan giants being dumped out of the competition at that stage for the first time in over 20 years, but with Lewandowski on board, Xavi's side will be hoping he can fire them to the round of 16 and beyond, just as he did so regularly for Bayern.

Lewandowski has already started to do so with his treble against Plzen, but will he be able to make an impact again when he faces his former club, or will Bayern be able to prove they have started to move on without him?

Xavi has challenged Barcelona to demonstrate their growth under his leadership when they face a huge Champions League test at Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

Barca have only twice beaten Bayern in 13 attempts and have never won this fixture away from home.

In the Champions League, the Blaugrana have lost eight of their 11 meetings with the Bundesliga giants – twice their number of defeats inflicted by any other opponent (four v Milan, Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain).

Barcelona fell to one of the most embarrassing defeats in their history against Bayern in August 2020, being hammered 8-2 in the quarter-finals in Lisbon, and they were beaten twice by Julian Nagelsmann's men last season. 

But the Catalan giants have steadily improved since November 2021, when legendary midfielder Xavi was appointed as head coach.

Now, it is up to his side to prove it, as Xavi told reporters on Monday: "I think there are a lot of expectations placed on us this season.

"Tomorrow's result won't change anything, but it is true that it is a challenge to win here, a stadium where we have never won.

"We have been working together for 10 months, and we have grown. We have the feeling and the challenge that we can win this game and that we can finally change the dynamic.

"We play against one of the best teams in the world, and tomorrow we want to show that this dynamic has changed.

"However, let's remember that tomorrow there are only three points at stake."

Tuesday's clash is set to be a particularly special occasion for Robert Lewandowski, the former Bayern forward who joined Barca ahead of the new season.

Lewandowski netted a club-record 69 Champions League goals for Bayern, including 38 in 37 games at the Allianz Arena.

"I see Robert very well," Xavi added. "He is very motivated, he rested the other day and he will be fresh. I imagine it will be very special for him.

"Tomorrow we will try to show our personality and beat one of the best teams in the world."

Julian Nagelsmann expressed his desire to see Robert Lewandowski receive a warm welcome on his Bayern Munich return, as he backed the striker to continue his fine start to life at Barcelona.

Lewandowski, who scored 238 Bundesliga goals during an eight-year spell with the Bavarian giants before heading to Camp Nou in July, has made a scintillating start to his Barcelona career. 

The Poland international has scored six goals in his first five outings in LaLiga, and turned on the style with a hat-trick in Barca's 5-1 Champions League thrashing of Viktoria Plzen last week.

Lewandowski will make a swift return to Munich with his new club for Tuesday's huge Champions League fixture, and despite the less-than-amicable nature of his departure, Nagelsmann believes he should be received warmly.

"If I see him before [the game] then I'm certainly going to give him my hand. I'm not sure if I'll see him beforehand, usually I don't," Nagelsmann said.

"I'm looking forward to our fans welcoming him back. When a player has been so strong for the team over the years, I think it's important. 

"He was an important part of the Bayern family. We had a personal exchange a couple of weeks back, not regarding football. I am looking forward to seeing him again."

Asked about Lewandowski's start to life in Spain, Nagelsmann added: "I think he can still continue to play at that level for a couple of years, I'm not sure how many goals he can score this season, I'm no genie. 

"I think it will be plenty. He has scored 40 plus usually, so I think he can do that in the Spanish league as well.

"I'm not sure if he's the most dangerous, but he's certainly one of their most dangerous players, the one that can score the most goals. They have great solutions there.

"Lewandowski always has great runs and positions inside the box. He's the most dangerous in front of goal, but if he doesn't get a lot of balls, it's difficult [for him]."

Having coached Lewandowski when he brought up a half-century of goals in all competitions last term, Nagelsmann is acutely aware of his talents, and believes Dayot Upamecano's past experiences of facing him could aid Bayern. 

"I have plenty of positions that I'm already pretty clear on," Nagelsmann added. "Upamecano has memories of playing against Lewandowski, back when he was at RB Leipzig. He knows him from our practice as well."

While Upamecano is set to start at the Allianz Arena, Leon Goretzka will not, as Nagelsmann looks to ease the midfielder in following his injury lay-off.

"The position next to Joshua [Kimmich] is going to be [Marcel] Sabitzer," Nagelsmann said. 

"I've had a chat with Leon, it was my decision to keep him on [against Stuttgart on Saturday]. We decided to keep him on for 94 minutes, that was a long time for him after the injury. He reacted well to it and is feeling good. 

"Him having to play from the start is not going to happen, we need him for the whole season and don't want to give him too many minutes at the start."

Meanwhile, Barcelona have suffered eight Champions League defeats to Bayern – twice as many as they have lost against any other opponent (4 vs Milan, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain).

Bayern also boast a 100 per cent record against the Blaugrana in the group stages and beat them twice in the competition last term, but Nagelsmann is keen to draw a line under those past meetings.

"We know Barcelona. They have a completely new mindset. You can delete the last few games against Barca from your memory, it's a whole different team, very aggressive," he said. "It reminds us of when Xavi still used to play himself. 

"In Gavi and Pedri they have great number eights that have great pressing actions as well. There's a great development there for the team, Xavi did a few things really well in the last weeks and months.

"They want to attack in a new way, and they're going to be very difficult opponents tomorrow."

Bayern Munich's sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic believes Robert Lewandowski's return to the club in the Champions League with Barcelona will not be a "distraction".

The Poland international departed the Bundesliga champions during the transfer window, bringing an end to a trophy laden eight-year spell in Bavaria.

Lewandowski has quickly settled into life in his new surroundings, scoring nine goals in six games for Barca in all competitions – including a hat-trick in the Champions League victory against Viktoria Plzen last week.

All eyes are now firmly focused on the midweek clash between Bayern and Barca in Munich, but Salihamidzic is not worried about the prospect of Lewandowski affecting the preparation of Julian Nagelsmann's team, though he admitted better performances are required after a run of three straight Bundesliga draws.

"We have to go up one or two more gears. Even three. We need to play much better against Barca than we are currently doing," he told Sport.

"Barca have top-level players with Lewandowski at the helm and they will take advantage of every opportunity.

"We don't think Robert's return can be a distraction, we don't think so."

Bayern conceded a last-gap equaliser on Saturday against Stuttgart, Matthijs de Ligt giving away a penalty, while Barca swept aside Cadiz in a 4-0 win.

Robert Lewandowski has paid tribute to "great champion" Iga Swiatek following his compatriot's US Open triumph.

Swiatek became the first Polish singles champion at Flushing Meadows after defeating Ons Jabeur in straight sets on Saturday.

It was the world number one's second grand slam success of a brilliant season, having won a further six WTA titles including the French Open in June.

The 21-year-old became the first woman to triumph at Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows in the same campaign since Serena Williams in 2013.

Swiatek and Lewandowski are among the pre-eminent Polish sports stars of this generation and shared an embrace on Court Philippe Chatrier following the former's success in Paris.

The Barcelona striker, who was on target in the Blaugrana's 4-0 win at Cadiz this weekend, celebrated his compatriot's latest victory, hailing the 10th WTA title of her career on social media.

"Congratulations Iga!" he tweeted. "You're a great champion, and you've proven it yet again on the biggest stage. I am so happy for you."

Robert Lewandowski continued his brilliant start to life in LaLiga to help seal a 4-0 win for Barcelona at lowly Cadiz, though a medical emergency in the crowd marred Saturday's match.

Introduced by Xavi just after Frenkie de Jong's first goal of the season had put Barca ahead in Andalusia, Lewandowski slid in to wrap up the points.

It marked Lewandowski's sixth LaLiga goal in his fifth appearance in the competition, with no player having managed as many goals in their first five games in Spain's top flight in the 21st century.

Yet a routine win was soured in the closing stages, with play halted and the players taken off the field following a medical emergency in the stands.

When the match eventually resumed after a 40-minute delay, Lewandowski turned provider for Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembele scored as Barca saw out a rout that moves them top of LaLiga with four wins from their five games.

Cadiz relied on the woodwork coming to their rescue in the 10th minute, when Raphinha's low effort hit the right-hand post.

Raphinha blazed over from Barca's next chance, with Memphis Depay showing a similar lack of composure after connecting with Ronald Araujo's knockdown.

De Jong tried a cheeky lob early in the second half, but it never came close to testing Jeremias Ledesma. Yet after a warning shot from Fede San Emeterio at the other end, the Barca midfielder was presented with a simple chance.

It was one he took, thumping a first-time finish into a gaping net after Ledesma had parried Gavi's cutback.

On from the bench, Lewandowski needed just eight minutes to put the game to bed – the 34-year-old's poacher's instincts on show as he tucked in a loose ball from a yard out.

The match was already over as a contest, but Barca added two more after the restart, with Lewandowski squaring for Fati to tap in before Dembele's shot squirmed home.

Bayern Munich head coach Julian Nagelsmann believed his side "absolutely deserved the win" as they beat Inter 2-0 at the San Siro to kick off their Champions League campaign.

A brilliant first-half goal from Leroy Sane set the German champions on their way to victory, before a Danilo D'Ambrosio own goal as he clumsily tried to block a Sane shot killed the game off.

The Bundesliga side saw out the remaining minutes to earn a clean sheet and all three points to make it 11 games unbeaten against Italian teams in the Champions League, as they look for their first European title since the 2019-20 season.

And Nagelsmann was delighted with his team's performance, telling reporters: "I'm happy with the performance today. We had a good intensity throughout the 90 minutes.

"In both halves, we had a spell of 10 minutes where we gave the opponent space and our opponents can obviously play.

"But overall we absolutely deserved the win. It was important to start with three points.

While Nagelsmann was pleased with his players, he believes there is much work to be done as they hunt for trophies.

"I enjoy it when we win. But there are many areas of improvement, we want to exploit them and we will try to do it on a daily basis."

Elsewhere in Europe, former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick as his new side Barcelona opened up their Champions League group stage with a 5-1 thrashing of Viktoria Plzen.

Lewandowski returns to the Allianz Arena next week as his old and new teams face off, and Nagelsmann says he hopes the fans give him a good reception despite his somewhat acrimonious departure.

When asked about facing him, Nagelsmann added: "I am looking forward to it, yes. Not so much to facing him, because he is very dangerous in front of goal.

"But as a person I will be pleased to see him. I hope the fans will honour that too, regardless of how things were with his departure."

Barcelona coach Xavi is overjoyed by Robert Lewandowski's start at the club, referring to him as "insatiable" after terrorising Viktoria Plzen.

The 34-year-old was in ruthless form on Wednesday, scoring a hat-trick as Barca thrashed their visitors 5-1 at Camp Nou.

Playing his first Champions League game for Barca, Lewandowski netted two sumptuous 20-yard strikes either side of a stooping header, with the hosts comfortable throughout.

Wednesday's treble ensured Lewandowski became the first player to net a Champions League hat-trick for three clubs, having scored four for Bayern Munich and one with Borussia Dortmund.

But Lewandowski's display was not a real shock given his strong start to life in LaLiga, and everything about his first few weeks at Barca has left Xavi amazed.

"Robert is like that, he's insatiable. I'm delighted with how he trains, how he improves the team," Xavi told Movistar.

"He's humble, he expects [of his team-mates] and he does a great job of pressing.

"It's not just the hat-trick anymore, it's his work and how he dominates."

Lewandowski was not the only Barca player to impress, however – had the Pole not scored a hat-trick, most would have seen Ousmane Dembele as the standout performer.

The France international was dazzling at times on the right flank.

It was only the second time in a Barcelona shirt that Dembele has laid on five key passes in a single game, and two of those resulted in assists.

Dembele was in devastating form in the second half of last season, and Xavi feels the winger is having fun at Camp Nou.

"He is happy, enjoying himself," the coach added. "He is a player who makes a difference – he assists and scores goals. He is a dagger down the wing."

Barcelona's three first-half goals on Wednesday ensured they have already scored more than the two they managed in the whole group stage last term.

But a tricky trip to face Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena awaits next week.

Robert Lewandowski made history with his maiden hat-trick for Barcelona against Viktoria Plzen, becoming the first player to hit Champions League trebles for three different sides.

The Poland international found the target twice in the first half at Camp Nou on Wednesday, with Franck Kessie and Plzen's Jan Sykora also netting in a frantic opening 45 minutes.

Lewandowski capped a scintillating performance with his third after 67 minutes, firing a 20-yard finish past Jindrich Stanek after a neat interchange with Ferran Torres, who then struck to seal a 5-1 victory for Barca.

The latter strike for Lewandowski made him the first player to ever score Champions League hat-tricks for three different teams, having previously hit trebles for Bayern Munich (four) and Borussia Dortmund (one).

Lewandowski was level on Champions League goals with Karim Benzema (86) heading into the game but moved to third in the all-time scoring charts – only Lionel Messi (125) and Cristiano Ronaldo (140) have more.

The Barca forward has been in fine LaLiga form as well, scoring five times in four league appearances, and will look to continue his scoring run when the Blaugrana visit Cadiz on Saturday.