In an incredible Champions League encounter, Bayern Munich outlined why they are the team to beat this season by decimating a characterless Barcelona to reach the semi-finals, winning 8-2 in Lisbon.
The German champions blitzed Barca with four goals in the opening 31 minutes, adding four more in the second, to set up a semi-final with Manchester City or Lyon and they are the hot favourites to win the tournament for a sixth time.
It was a mesmerizing performance, helped by a defensive horror show from the Spanish side, as a brace from Thomas Muller was complemented by goals from Ivan Perisic and Serge Gnabry put them 4-1 up at the break.
The tone was set early on as Thomas Muller, making his 113th Champions League appearance, scored inside four minutes, but it was soon cancelled out by a freak own goal from David Alaba on seven minutes. The first-half floodgates then opened as Ivan Perisic, Serge Gnabry and Muller netted in quick succession.
Barcelona coach, Quique Setien brought on Antoine Griezmann at the break and there was a glimmer of hope for Barcelona when Luis Suarez made it 4-2 in the 57th minute, but it was short lived with half of Bayern’s goals still to come.
After a sensational solo run from Alphonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich slotted home the fifth before a late glut of goals embarrassed an abysmal Barcelona even further. Not to be left out, top scorer Robert Lewandowski saw his goal given after a tight VAR review.
Barcelona loanee Philippe Coutinho then netted a late double with the eighth and final goal drawing an angry reaction from a number of the Barcelona substitutes, who displayed more passion than any of their team-mates on the field over the 90 minutes.
Bayern will face either Manchester City or Lyon in the Champions League semi-final on August 19. The pressure on manager Quique Setien has now grown exponentially after one of the heaviest defeats in Barcelona’s history.
This year’s semi-finals will also be the first time since the 2004/05 season that neither Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo feature. While they both remain two of the best players to have ever stepped onto a football field, the end of their own personal reign has coincided with this defeat which underlined the end of Barcelona’s golden era.
Barcelona’s defender, Gerard Pique gave an honest assessment of Barcelona’s stunning defeat to Bayern Munich, saying the club had “hit rock bottom” and needs radical changes.
“We feel devastated, although shame is the real word I’m looking for. We cannot afford to compete like this because it’s not the first, the second or the third time that something like this has happened,” he told reporters.
“This is very painful but I hope it serves some purpose… We all need to reflect deeply, the club needs lots of changes, I’m not talking about the coach, players – I don’t want to point the finger at anyone but the club needs changes on a structural level.
“If new blood needs to come for the club to change course then I’m not untouchable and I’ll be the first to leave if needs be, because it seems as if we’ve hit rock bottom. We all have to reflect about what is the best thing for the club and for Barca.”
