By COLE KELLOGG
For 76 minutes, Bayern Munich looked like escaping the Camp Nou with a draw might be possible. Manuel Neuer was making stunning saves and Bayern’s defense was holding up well against the might of Barcelona’s attack.
Then Lionel Messi happened, and by the end of the match, Bayern’s once-promising chances in the UEFA Champions League semifinals had turned into victim on life support.Messi scored twice and assisted on a third goal late to lead Barcelona past Bayern Munich, 3-0, on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola did not enjoy the homecoming he would have been hoping for as Bayern Munich could not weather the storm at Camp Nou. It was a night full of entertaining, attacking soccer. Guardiola’s side seemed to have found its stride after surviving 20 minutes of Barcelona dominance, but the Catalans were too strong in the end.
Lionel Messi found the back of the net in the 77th minute, scoring his 76th UCL goal to draw level with Cristiano Ronaldo. The chance seemed to come from nothing, with a quick ball from Alves giving the Argentine time and space outside the box.
Merely minutes later, Messi scored a second. The Little Flea turned Jerome Boateng inside-out and chipped Manuel Neuer to put Barcelona up 2-0, and to move past Cristiano Ronaldo for the career lead in UEFA Champions League goals.
Neymar made it 3-0 in the fourth minute of stoppage time. A brilliantly placed pass from Messi split the Bayern defense and sent Neymar running free on goal. The Brazilian made no mistake, beating Neuer for a vital third goal to put all the pressure on Bayern heading back to Germany.
Guardiola, the man that won 14 trophies in four years at Barcelona, trotted his team out with a back three before adding a fourth defender after being dominated in the opening 20 minutes. The Spanish powerhouse ran riot over the Germans early on in the match, with the most dangerous front three in world football proving too much for Bayern to handle.
Neuer had an incredible kick save 12 minutes in against the red-hot Luis Suarez. Five minutes later, an incredible run from the Uruguayan led to a point blank shot from Neymar. Lahm got the deflection, though, as the ball went out for a corner kick.
Minutes later, Thomas Muller played a low cross in to the box for Lewandowski, whose outstretched leg could not direct the ball into the back of the net.
A brilliant ball over the top by Iniesta in the 39th minute fell to Dani Alves. The Brazilian controlled it with his chest and got a shot off, but Neuer was out fast to make the kick save.
The second half came to life quickly, as Alves pulled down a masked Robert Lewandowski just outside the box to draw a yellow card and a free kick. Xabi Alonso’s low strike went right into the wall and out for a corner.
The next big chance came for Barcelona in the 57th minute. Neymar got a shot off from just outside the 18-yard box. He tried his luck again seven minutes later, but his shot was high and wide.
I’m still watching the second leg.
As crazy as 3-0 against Barca looks, Bayern is capable of pulling it off.
Gonna be a fun 90 minutes
Barca to win comfortably at Munchen next Tuesday as well.
There is a difference in class between the teams right now, and Bayern missing key players doesn’t help. Should’ve been 3:0 15 minutes in, as Pep decided it was a good idea to start with 3 defenders v. the Atomic trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar.
Young American kids playing the beautiful game should watch the Barcelonas of the world, the control, movement on and off the ball, the tactical awareness of the players. Too bad La Liga is only available on Bein, whereas with NBC holding the rights to the PL, people here are brainwashed to think that the PL is the beginning and the end, while the league is full of horticulturalists with atrocious first touch, and coaches who are routinely exposed as clueless in Europe…
To think there were demented souls in the British media a few years back who proclaimed Rooney to be better than Messi…
I agree with everything besides the diss to gardeners…the Spanish league is great quality deep into the table and it shows when Barca, Madrid, Atletico, and Sevilla make it deep into European tournament
I doubted FCB’s ability to knock off Bayern but wow, the team defending and passing was incredible and eventually Messi destroyed it.
Pay up for Bein , worth it!!! — but now a liga strike or something!
I seem to remember Thierry Henry telling young Americans to look at Thomas Müller and Bayern Munich rather than Barcelona.
His line of thinking was that the Germans had built something out of hard work and discipline, rather than truly special, truly gifted players.
He thought that it might be more easy to duplicate.
You’re never gonna grow up to be Messi
You need to be careful with the generalizations. Not all PL coaches are clueless. Mourinho has won in several different leagues and won a couple of CL titles, his first with Porto, hardly a traditional power. A number of former coaches in the PL, such as Ancelotti who comes immediately to mind, have had success in other leagues and in the CL.. Then you have a number of former PL players sprinkled throughout the top teams in Europe–Mascharano, Bale, Ronaldo, Tevez, Robben, and many many more. These things tend to go in cycles. Just recently you had an all Bundesliga final in the CL. What’s true today may not be true in a couple of years.
Young American kids should watch Barca because Messi, Iniesta, and Xavi are all 5’7”, Neymar is 5’9”, and Suarez is 5″11. You don’t have to be a superhuman specimen to excel at soccer at the highest level, which makes it decidedly different than other popular professional sports and vastly increases the potential talent pool. You can be a regular height and weight if you have the passion, train hard, study the game, and have some natural talent.
You’re carrying a wasted girl and a bag of fertilizer. You don’t look like your average f****** horticulturalist.
+copiousamountsofganja
Someone caught on the horticulturalist reference, well played!
It’s a deal, it’s a steal…