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Billed as what could either be the greatest comeback or the greatest whitewash, the second leg of the Champions league semifinal tie between the two behemoths of European Football was far less of the first than of the second. Indeed, 3-0 is extremely hard to live down, especially for a team which has tasted as much success as Barcelona has in these times. The match between the two FCBs couldn’t have been more disproportionately paired, especially for the semifinals, as it was resembling a first round cup tie between a first tier and fifth tier team more than anything else, and certainly not the semifinals of the World’s most prestigious club tournament. The semifinals concluded with a never seen before goal aggregate of 7-0, effectively announcing Bayern’s superior chances of taking their campaign all the way.
The Scenario
FC Barcelona were still reeling under the four relentless goals scored by Bayern Munich in the first leg of the tie (who wouldn’t be?), while Bayern were riding on a cloud of success. After all, they had only lost one match since Christmas, and that really didn’t cause any harm whatsoever. Barcelona were still not written off altogether; they were, after all, the same team that had humbled the likes of Real Madrid with a scoreline of 5-0. But with the class of the 2011 team missing, it seemed unlikely, and with the Little Magician out on a hamstring problem, Barcelona really never stood a chance.
Team News
Bayern Munich’s team saw the inclusion of their first choice striker Mario Mandzukic once again, who had to sit out the first leg due to suspension and Daniel van Buyten, who played instead of Dante, who wasn’t match ready as he was feeling a little under the weather.
Barcelona’s team, on the other hand, was a desperate attempt to salvage something out of a terrible first leg and a squad that couldn’t have been less match ready. With Carles Puyol sitting it out, newbie Bartra was called in to attempt his best to stop stalwarts of the likes of Ribery, Robben and Muller, which he failed at miserably. The biggest surprise came with the absence of the name that could’ve shone some rays of hope into the hearts of the Catalans. Yes, Lionel Messi, the man who had scored two of the four goals made by Barcelona against Bayern Munich four years ago, was in the substitutes. Barcelona needed a miracle to overturn the 4-0 deficit, and their miracle man was busy trying to influence the game by staring at it.
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1):- Neuer, Lahm (Rafinha 77′), Boateng, Van Buyten, Alaba, Javi Martinez (Tymoshchuk 74′), Schweinsteiger (Gustavo 65′), Robben, Muller, Ribery, Mandzukic
Unused Substitutes:- Starke, Dante, Shaqiri, Gomez
Barcelona (4-3-3):- Valdes, Dani Alves, Pique, Bartra (Montoya 87′), Adriano, Xavi (Sanchez 55′), Song, Iniesta (Alcantara 65′), Villa, Fabregas, Pedro
Unused Substitutes:- Colorado, Santos, Messi, Tello
Kick Off
The match started amidst lots of pressure for Barcelona, but relative ease for the juxtaposed dugout. The two teams were visual antithesis to each other. While Bayern were in a sea of calm, who were waiting to deliver a fatal blow just as accurately as they had landed their sucker punch a week ago, Barca were a tense bunch of nerves who, on the surface, were busy high fiving and cheering each other up.
The game started in similar fashion, and a wave of nostalgia crept through all of Camp Nou. Bayern were back on the back foot, with quick counter attacks here and there. Barcelona were busy keeping possession, looking for a gap in an impregnable and air tight Bayern Munich defense.
Barcelona looked far better organized this time, as their defense was quicker on the button, and played the offside trap admirably, leaving Muller and Mandzukic scowling in frustration.
They also looked the more likely of the two teams to score, setting up good opportunities that were left unconverted, with Xavi fluffing a rather easy volley by blasting it miles above the intended target and Iniesta hitting it wide. Pique tracked back in time to neutralize pretty much the only proper crack Bayern had at scoring in the first half via Arjen Robben.
Fouls were many in number, and a few cards were shown to the offenders. Bayern, being the perfectionists they are, felt frustrated with not wrapping the match up yet, while Barcelona were obviously the worse off among the two, with 4 goals left to score in just 45 mins.
Half Time
If half time pep talk is supposed to buck the players up, Tito Vilanova managed to achieve the exact opposite. Barcelona came out nowhere nearly as confident as the team that had held off Bayern for 45 mins with a second rate team. Bayern were definitely not going to let this go unpunished, and Arjen Robben took all the advantage in the world that one could take from a faulty clearance by Victor Valdes. Robben shot past 3 Barcelona defenders after receiving an inch perfect cross from David Alaba, and the ball curled well beyond Valdes’s reach into the back of the net. Barcelona now needed 5 goals to qualify, and that too in just 42 mins.
Barcelona had resigned all hope at this point, as seen with the subbing off of Xavi and Iniesta, and the match became depressingly one sided.
Bayern, too, were playing for fun, and none of the excitement the second leg from the previous Champions league semi final involving Barcelona was there. More and more screw ups started happening, as Pedro proved to be extremely toothless, and as Pique showed a bad sense of direction, clearing the ball into his net, and not away. Muller put the game past all repair, scoring from a close range header of a Ribery cross, leaping well above Valdes’s outstretched arms. The game concluded with a ludicrous 7-0 aggregate. Bayern had done the impossible, they didn’t just beat Barcelona, they dismantled them, perhaps announcing the reign of a new era in the World of club football.
Conclusion
After exorcising the ghosts of their previous encounter with Barcelona, Bayern are now in the first ever all-German finals of the European League (Dortmund being the other contender). Whether they can take it all the way this time remains to be seen, faltering at the same stumbling block twice in three years now. Dortmund have already bowed out to Bayern in the Bundesliga, and Bayern will certainly not relent in any other form of competitive football either. If Bayern play just as emphatically as they did in the Semi Finals, Dortmund will certainly have a lot of work cut out for them.
