It just wasn’t Bayern Munich’s night. The Germans got upended in the first half, and despite coming back to earn a 3-2 win in Tuesday’s second leg, they lost the tie to Barcelona by a 5-3 aggregate scoreline. That means Barcelona will be playing in the Champions League final in Berlin, while Pep Guardiola and his squad watch from home.
3 things we learned from Barcelona securing advancement despite Bayern Munich winning 3-2
Bayern Munich won the match, but it’s Barcelona going to the Champions League final after winning the tie 5-3 on aggregate.
Matthias Hangst/Getty Images
Bayern came out pushing hard to make up their three-goal aggregate deficit, playing aggressively and actually doing quite well in the early going. They left Barcelona’s defense looking off-balance and a step slow, and when Bayern scored in the seventh minute on Mehdi Benatia’s header, it looked like the game was well and truly on.
Barcelona didn’t really seem to care about that, though, with Luis Enrique’s side refusing to adopt a defensive stance to keep Bayern from further closing the gap. That left them free to counter at will against Bayern’s all-out attack, and some uncharacteristically direct play from the Spaniards saw their all-star front three combine for two wonderful goals scored by Neymar in the first half, giving Barcelona the lead in the match and a dominant position in the aggregate scoreline.
The second half saw an improved performance from Bayern, scoring two goals and doing a better job of controlling the proceedings, but by then it was too little, too late. Barcelona may have lost the match, but they did more than enough to guarantee that they won the tie, and fully deserve their place in the final.
3 things we learned
1. You just can’t stop Messi, Suarez and Neymar
Bayern Munich made a pretty good go of things early in the match, scoring early and putting a lot of pressure on the Barcelona defense. But when it comes to facing Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar -- well, there's only so much you can do. The goal they scored to put the dagger in Bayern was a delightful display of what they can do, pulling apart a previously resolute defense with ease, putting together lovely passes that looked much easier than they were and executing perfect runs to get through that defense. By the time Neymar took his last touch to put the ball past Manuel Neuer, Barcelona's goal was basically a foregone conclusion. When those three play like this, you can only delay them scoring a goal or three -- you can't actually stop it.
2. Bayern took the right approach, it just didn’t work
Bayern came out aggressively, trying to keep as much of the action as they could in Barcelona’s half of the pitch. They got behind Barcelona’s fullbacks on a regular basis, and turned Sergio Busquets around in midfield more often than a subway turnstile at rush hour. Their early goal was exactly what they needed, and they nearly got a couple more before Barcelona got their opener. But after that opener, Barcelona’s midfield and defense made a couple of adjustments to do just enough to keep Bayern at bay, and when they didn’t, and for all their quality, Bayern just couldn’t get the job done. The plan was great, the execution looked good for a while -- it just didn’t do the job in the end. That happens sometimes, it just stinks for Bayern and their fans that it happened on such a big stage in a crucial moment.
3. Barcelona are the troll kings of UEFA
No team is better at embarrassing or humiliating their opponents right now than Barcelona, who seem to do a lot of things with the sole intention of messing with the side they’re playing against. Just a week after Messi left Jerome Boateng wanting to dig a hole and never come out of it, Barcelona’s attack made Boateng look really bad two more times, and Suarez made Benatia look foolish a time or two as well. Then there’s the way the two goals were scored, with Barcelona eschewing their usual patient buildup to let Messi, Suarez and Neymar try crap and have fun. Put this team in a situation where the pressure’s off -- like, say, a three-goal aggregate lead after the first leg -- and they’ll do enough to get the job done, and enjoy things to the fullest while they do so. Worse? They’ll make you feel bad about it, dangling hope in front of you before snatching it away.
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