Hansi Flick's superb start as Barcelona manager continued at the weekend, as a 5-1 thrashing of Sevilla maintained their three-point lead at the top of La Liga.

The one blemish on the card domestically so far was a slip up away to Osasuna, while Flick's only other defeat came away to an impressive Monaco side after they had been reduced to 10 men in the first half.

Barca returned to form in some style on matchday two though, thrashing Young Boys 5-0; the perfect preparation for the visit of the German heavyweights - Flick, and top scorer Robert Lewandowski's former employers.

The Barca boss has now won 17 of his 20 matches in the Champions League, the best win ratio of any manager in its history, and also the most wins any coach has managed in their opening 20 games in the competition.

However, Barcelona's history against Bayern is extremely ominous ahead of this encounter, as the Catalans have only ever won twice in 15 previous meetings.

The last six encounters have all gone in Bayern's favour, including that astonishing 8-2 victory in 2020, while the Bavarians have also won four in succession since then without conceding.

Another defeat here would see Barca match their club-record longest losing streak against a single opponent, an unwanted feat that dates back to the early 1960s against an all-conquering Real Madrid outfit.

With 10 wins over Barca in the Champions League, Bayern could equal the record for the most wins any team has managed against a single opponent in the competition, and become the first team to win seven straight games against a team since Real Madrid did so against Ajax throughout the 2010s.

Vincent Kompany will be hoping his side can respond after a disappointing defeat away to Aston Villa on matchday two, when Jhon Duran capitalised on Manuel Neuer going walkabouts to net an impressive late winner.

That result ended Bayern's 41-game unbeaten run in this stage of the Champions League, and it also means they could lose three straight away games in Europe for the first time in their history, after also falling to defeat dramatically at Real Madrid in last season's semi-finals.

In the middle of September, Bayern won three games in the space of a week, scoring 20 goals in the process against Holstein Kiel, Dinamo Zagreb and Werder Bremen, but since then though, they have not found it quite as easy, drawing with Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt either side of the Villa defeat.

The three-game winless run was ended at the weekend though, as Harry Kane netted his sixth Bayern hat trick on their way to beating Stuttgart 4-0, keeping them top of the Bundesliga on goal difference over RB Leipzig.