Barcelona vs Bayern Munich LIVE Score and Commentary, UEFA Champions League 2021-22

Right, so it's been an eventful first day of the UEFA Champions League season. Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Chelsea registered victories while Barcelona and Manchester United were shocked into submission. There's much more action to come tomorrow, with Lionel Messi making his PSG debut in the Champions League, and Real Madrid taking on Italian champions Inter Milan. Liverpool, meanwhile, replay their famous 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan.

We've come to the end of an entertaining night of European football, and it's been a pleasure watching this game with you. This is your host Aditya Hosangadi signing off. Cheers, and good night!

⏰ TUESDAY'S RESULTS ⏰

Goals, comebacks, drama ✅
🔝 Best performance?#UCL
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 14, 2021

🤯 Barcelona 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙙 to have a shot on target in a home La Liga or Champions League match for the first time since WhoScored started collecting data from 2009/10...
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) September 14, 2021

Proud of the Barcelona kids. This match against Bayern was going to be tough on them but they'll come out better because of it. On paper, the most difficult team to play. But no reason why they can't get points against Benfica.
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) September 14, 2021

Gerard Pique: We competed in the first half, Bayern took the lead with a deflected goal. In the end, I don't know how many kids we had on. It is what it is, we are what we are...
— Samuel Marsden (@samuelmarsden) September 14, 2021

The other variable in Barcelona's situation: Ronald Koeman. He's put some big words out there this week, and he now needs to walk the talk. He's far from a popular figure at the moment and if he had the support of a certain section of the fanbase before this game, he's certainly lost a lot of it now. The Camp Nou demands perfection, and Barcelona need big scorelines to recover from their seemingly endless pit of despair.

How has it come to this, you ask? Shoddy management, some truly ludicrous decisions, and a generational legend papering over the cracks. The first two problems have largely been solved, but they will now have to learn to live without Lionel Messi. His absence was blatantly obvious tonight.

Barcelona, on the other hand, have a massive mountain to climb. They've had 0 - yes, ZERO - shots on target tonight. The youngsters were bright tonight, and it does beg the question: Will they get their due? Barcelona need a way out of this situation, and it doesn't look like they have a clue at the moment.

Bayern Munich earn their rightful place at the top of the group, and it would surprise absolutely no one if they stayed for the remainder of this stage of the competition.

Not a humiliation, but a difficult night nevertheless. Barcelona did stand their ground occasionally, but were thoroughly outplayed by a side so superior they didn't need to turn the style. The Luuk de Jong experiment did not work, and Koeman's side never looked like they were going to win this game.

FULL TIME: Barcelona 0-3 Bayern Munich

90 + 1' Alphonso Davies eviscerates Mingueza on the right to get his cross in, and nearly manages to find the far post with it. Barcelona struggling at the moment.

Two minues of stoppage-time..

87' The spring in Barcelona's step is now nowhere to be seen. Bayern Munich are on the attack yet again, and the home crowd seems eager to hear the final whistle.

That's a throwback to the 8-2. Barcelona give the ball away in a horrendously poor position and Gnabry hits the post from an excellent position. Lewandowski - that's far too easy for him, a training drill. Latches on to the rebound, sits his man down, picks his spot, and gets his goal.

85' LEWANDOWSKI WITH HIS SECOND! Bayern Munich 3-0 Barcelona

84' Sabitzer into the side netting! Gnabry plays an excellent ball to wrong-foot the Barcelona defence, but the angle is just too tight for Marcel Sabitzer.

83' Gavi's youthul exuberance could earn him a sending off here, nowhere near the ball with that challenge. He's been impressive so far, but will need to be careful.

82' Marcel Sabitzer gets his minutes, and comes on for Thomas Muller. Josip Stanisic and Kingsley Coman come on for Niklas Sule and Leroy Sane.

82' Yellow Card for Gavi.
Threw himself into Thomas Muller to stop a Bayern counter, and took one for the team.

80' Barcelona are now clearly better with teenagers in their ranks. Bayern have taken their foot off the pedal, and the likes of Balde and Gavi are matching the German press with their tenacity.

78' Yellow Card for Dayot Upamecano.
Barges into Memphis Depay, and picks up Bayern's second booking.

77' Barcelona break with Frenkie de Jong and Alejandro Balde, and the ball finds Coutinho in the middle. He decides to shoot over a pass to the right, and a deflection takes the venom out of his effort.

76' Promising cross from Mingueza but there's Upamecano again to make the interception. Barcelona have improved ever so slightly in the second half, but they seem unable to create a concrete chance.

Barcelona have several teenagers on the pitch at the moment, and they seem to be putting up a fight against this Bayern Munich side. There's less than 20 minutes left in the game though, and it's unlikely that we'll see much of a comeback.

73' Jordi Alba is struggling at the moment and is unable to continue, he's taken off for another 18-year-old, Alejandro Balde.

Philippe Coutinho has taken up a position on the left and Memphis Depay has moved to a central role. Barcelona seem more coherent at the moment but they need to find a way to deal with Bayern Munich's suffocating press.

71' Much better from Barcelona, Jordi Alba gets a cross in from the left but it's much too close to Manuel Neuer.

70' Another subsitution for Bayern Munich, Serge Gnabry comes on for Jamal Musiala.

68' Coutinho with his first shot since his return! Tries to bend it into the far corner but gets too much on the ball.

66' Lucas Hernandez replaces Benjamin Pavard for Bayern Munich, and Eric Garcia and Luuk de Jong go off for Philippe Coutinho and Oscar Mingueza for Barcelona.

64' Barcelona keep the ball for a few minutes and decide to go with route one. Araujo's long ball has a little too much on it and Goretzka gets in between Gavi and Neuer to keep Bayern safe.

61' Wonderfully intricate from Bayern Munich, they're passing triangles around Barcelona. Gavi does well to dispossess Sane, but his clearance doesn't find another Barcelona shirt.

Plenty of youth on the pitch now for Barcelona, and the kids have 30 minutes to step up against one of the best teams in Europe. An excellent opportunity for them, but Bayern will continue to be relentless.

59' Changes galore for Barcelona! Sergio Busquets off for 17-year-old Gavi, Sergi Roberto off for 18-year-old Yusuf Demir.

58' An unimaginably long way back for Barcelona now. They haven't been humiliated tonight, but they're clearly no match for this Bayern Munich side.

A proper poacher's goal from that man Robert Lewandowski. Jamal Musiala finds space at the edge of the box and unleashes a venomous shot that crashes into the post. The ball doesn't fall kindly to Lewandowski's feet, and he does brilliantly to adjust his position and stud the ball into the back of the net.

56' LEWANDOWSKI!! 2-0 TO BAYERN MUNICH!

53' Bayern have the home side in a chokehold, and create another chance deep in Barcelona's box. The Catalans clear their lines, but Bayern win the ball far too easily.

52' Saved by Ter Stegen! Leroy Sane does brilliantly with the ball in the box, but his compatriot in Barcelona's goal is well-positioned.

51' Excellent challenge by Ronald Araujo. The only player on that pitch who can keep up with Alphonso Davies, and does brilliantly to get in the way of the full-back.

50' Busquets tries his luck! Takes his shot from distance, and wins a corner.

47' Pedri's battle with Upamecano has been intriguing so far. Not much between them in terms of pace, and the teenager is now learning to live with Upamecano's physicality.

The second half is underway!
Barcelona attacking from right to left.

Right, so the second half is about a minute away. No news on any changes for either side - Bayern Munich don't need any, they've looked pretty happy with their play. Barcelona need to play their cards right.

Luuk de Jong's first 'sprint' there, looks like he's running through soup.
— Karl Matchett (@karlmatchett) September 14, 2021

The Catalans do not have many options on the bench. Dembele, Aguero, Ansu Fati, Martin Braithwaite - that's their injury list at the moment. They've relied heavily on Memphis Depay and Frenkie de Jong so far, and they'll need at least two more names to step up in this second half.

Barcelona have a few major sources of concern to address. Luuk de Jong is simply not working out for them tonight, and Koeman cannot afford to waste any more time against a team like Bayern Munich. Will we see Philippe Coutinho against his former club? Or could Yusuf Demir work his magic and prove his mettle against a European behemoth?

No added time at the end of the first half, as Bayern Munich walk down the tunnel with a 1-0 lead. Unlike last year's debacle, Barcelona have stepped up to the challenge and will be absolutely gutted with the manner in which that goal was conceded.

Thomas Muller is the quintessential Raumdeuter, but Barcelona actively gave him the space and time he needed here. You can't give a player of his class the two things that make up his lifeblood, and Muller promptly took a shot. Ter Stegen found himself stranded, and Barcelona now have a mountain to climb.

HALF-TIME: Barcelona 0-1 Bayern Munich