Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich, 2015 Champions League: Lionel Messi blows Bavarians to pieces

Pep Guardiola made an unhappy return to Barcelona on Wednesday, with his Bayern Munich side defeated 3-0 by Luis Enrique’s Catalans. It was an utterly convincing victory for the hosts, who were in the ascendancy from start to finish. Another Champions League final now surely awaits.

The game got off to a quite ridiculous start, with Guardiola’s odd man-marking strategy allowing Barcelona to tear through Bayern several times in the opening exchanges. Luis Suárez squeezed through and had a penalty appeal turned down, shortly before Neymar somehow saw an effort from 6 yards deflected wide of goal.

These are the two best teams on the planet, and this should be a brilliant game. Don’t miss it.

Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League matchup between Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona is one between two of the top squads in the world, but all of the narrative is about the coach. For the first time since taking over in Bavaria, Pep will coach his new team in a competitive match against his old team.

The two sides enter this match as the top teams in their respective leagues. Bayern Munich have already clinched a Bundesliga title, while Barcelona sit on top of La Liga. They’re ahead of Real Madrid by two points, but Los Merengues have the tiebreaker, so they could lose the title with a draw in any of their remaining games. In this competition, the two sides have been just about equally dominant, bulldozing their way to this stage without much trouble.

This battle of European titans sees German juggernaut Bayern Munich visit the Camp Nou to face off with Barcelona, as Pep Guardiola wants to end this season’s successful run for his old side, while Luis Enrique wants to show him that Barca have moved on. There’s also the factor of Barcelona wanting to get a little bit of revenge, after losing 7-0 on aggregate to Bayern at this stage two years ago.

These are arguably the two best sides in Europe right now, with incredible amounts of quality through both rosters and with both squads capable of playing scintillating football. The tactical chess on the pitch is going to be immensely fun to watch play out, especially with all the history there is between managers, clubs, and players alike. This match means so much in terms of the competition and individual battles that these teams are going to leave everything out there on the pitch, and this could wind up being some of the best football we’ll have seen for quite some time.