Two powerhouse clubs going at it in the semis. One has a stellar player with a great supporting cast while the other has several players with great skill. Which one will come out on top? Ze Germans or the tiki taka Spaniards.
First half...
Barca get off to a good start with possession as always but Bayern are defending well and a bit differently than I would have expected. Bayern are apparently and obviously conceding possession but marking Xavi and Iniesta so they can't get on the ball and dictate play. The commentators were all wondering about Messi, who may or may not be fit due to a hamstring injury. Time would tell. Barca are doing the usual passing around but with no purpose. I believe it is because their hands are tied by not having their two best passers of the ball, have the ball. Bayern are doing a wonderful job of that. They press only when certain key players have the ball and then Barca are forced backwards. Obviously, you can't score that way and Barca are content because they still have the ball. Bayern seem to understand the game a little more. Their passes are with conviction and attacks are direct and probing. No time is given to the Barca defense to survey what was happening. Bayern would be asking a lot of questions of this defense throughout the night. Could Barcelona answer? Several appeals by the home team could have gone their way and it could have started on its way to a rout, but it was going to take more effort than that. It took a while for the game to open up and Bayern were willing to run, but Barca weren't obliging and were beat by a corner. The height of Bayern could be a factor in this game. Muller opens the scoring by heading in from close range. All Barca can do is scream to the ref of a foul that was never there. Bayern up 1-0. Barcelona try to get a hold back on the game. It is almost as if they are asking themselves; How can we be down? We have all the possession and no goals and yet they aren't scared, how is this possible? They go in at the break with the home team up a goal.
Second half...
Could Barca get an away goal? Or will Bayern up the pressure? What is most strange to me is how Messi is still in the game even though he can't get on the ball. He has dropped back to just in front of his own back line to get a few touches on the ball. Even then he is hounded to give it up or his is surrounded and dispossessed. Great teamwork by Bayern to play team defense. But Bayern aren't just about playing defense. Another corner is Barcelona's undoing and they have a legit call for offsides, but Bayern have their legitimate appeal for two handlings in the area in the first half. Pick your poison. Gomez finds himself unmarked and puts Ze Germans up by two. "Barca surely have an answer", their fans must be saying. Eh, no, no they don't. Another spell of Barcelona possession comes to nothing but a swift counter by Bayern and another questionable blocking no call and Robben finds the back of the net to put the home side up by three. Nobody expected this. I myself thought the final score would be 3-1 to Bayern. So even I thought that Barca would have a goal. With about 25 minutes left and Messi still on the field it looks as if Barcelona have thrown in the towel and just don't want to concede another costly goal. They seem to be thinking of the return leg and how they will score four at home against a side that won't even give them one. Bayern, to their credit, knew that the game wasn't over and kept pushing Barca to the limit. They were thinking, "We've broken them three times already, why not again?" And break again they did. Countering a stretched Barcelona team never looked so easy and fluid. Bayern seemed to have free reign to attack wherever they wanted to. This time is was to the left. Alaba picked up the ball from Schweinsteiger and screamed down the left and into the oppositions' area and put a dangerous ball across the face of goal for Muller to tap home. Four nil to Ze Germans and it never looked in doubt. I correctly guessed how many goals would be scored I just gave Barca a goal in a game that they didn't show up to. It turned out to be a game of one team relying on one player to take off the pressure of the rest of them and he never showed up, while the other team had all eleven players playing one game, defending with passion and attacking with enthusiasm. One team deserved to win that game. One team did win that game.
My man of the match would be Arjen Robben. Not known for his defensive ability, he certainly showed it tonight as well as his scoring.
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