With Bayern already up by 4 goals, it was going to take a near miracle from Barca and a huge breakdown by Bayern to lose this game. Lots of people thought Barca could do the impossible. Too bad they don't really pay attention to the game or the team or the coach. Messi, who did nothing in the first game, largely in part due to a hamstring injury. The coach played Messi, even though they have already won their league. That game didn't matter. The only reason why Barcelona are a strong Champions League team is because La Liga is a top heavy league. They don't have to play tough teams week in and week out. Great players rise to the occasion and Barcelona don't have any on their team. The first leg showed that. Nobody showed up for Barca.
First half...
Nothing really special for me. Barca stand around a lot. Kinda boring from a team that has so many fans and bandwagon fans. You would think that they would want to score early and often. Nope. Just sad. They have already given up. There is no way for them to play over the top when none of the players want to make a run to get open. That is not anti football by Bayern it is just not knowing how to play football by Barcelona. No team will just let you pass on the ground right past them. It is a physical game. Real Madrid knew that and they played quite well. Barcelona have gotten accustomed to getting every touch being called a foul. Not anymore. It is a mans game. Not for little boys and crybabies.
Second half...
Much of the same passing sideways and backwards for Barca. Meanwhile, the Bayern travelling fans were overwhelmingly much louder than the quieted and disgruntled home fans. Bayern has a purpose when they attack and grit when they defend. Forcing Barca backwards and not letting them have time on the ball to make a good decision. A long ball to Robben and his ever present left foot provided the killing blow. From there it was a landslide victory in the bag. Coming with about 35 minutes left in the second, there was absolutely no chance for Barcelona to get back into the game. Soon the travelling fans sent shouts of "Ole!" echoing throughout the Nou Camp. And the fans nor the players themselves could do anything about it. Bayern had effectively made Barca look like cones with numbers. String passes together and leaving Barca clueless as to what was happening right before their very eyes. It was beautiful to watch Bayern move the ball forward then across the field with ease and confidence. The second goal came from another break and Ribery put in a cross and Pique put it into his own net. It truly was over for Barcelona. No heart. No purpose. No chance. Bayern were not done yet though, just to show that Barcelona was not a great team by any means. Beaten in the air again Bayern put one more over on Barca and completed a total thrashing of Barcelona over 180 minutes. 7-0. Over two legs. Barcelona were blanked both away and at home. Not even is it humbling to be beaten like that. It is shameful to not even try. And that is what it looked like from Barcelona. Shameful. No effort. No heart. No purpose in anything that they did on the pitch. A great win to Bayern Munich and an all German final in the Champions League. A first.
