Thomas Müller scored two goals and set up two others as Bayern Munich thrashed visiting Barcelona, 4-0, on Tuesday in a Champions League semifinal.
The eagerly anticipated showdown between European heavyweights, both former winners of the competition, was a complete mismatch. Bayern dominated the midfield even as it surrendered much of the possession, frustrating Barcelona’s passing game before it could get close enough to create chances. Then Bayern punished the Catalans on set pieces at the other end, dominating the air — at times simply bullying Barcelona into submission. Barcelona had hoped to get a boost from its star Lionel Messi, who returned from a hamstring injury sustained in the quarterfinal, but the tiny Argentine — unable to find an inch of space and clearly not fit — was virtually invisible all game.
Barcelona never seemed to have a chance. Losing his marker in the 25th minute, Müller drove in a header for the opening goal. Four minutes after halftime, he headed a ball off a corner kick into the goalmouth, where Mario Gomez swept it in. The visitors were stunned, and it only got worse.
Müller set a crushing pick on a defender to free Arjen Robben to score from a tight angle in the 73rd minute, and then slid in to add his second goal in the 82nd.
By then Barcelona seemed to be praying for the end, just wanting to get out of Bavaria and hopefully turn things around at its Camp Nou stadium next week. But a four-goal deficit will be almost impossible to erase, making it highly likely now that Bayern will face the Real Madrid-Borussia Dortmund winner in the final at Wembley on May 25.
Barcelona had about 65 percent possession there – and still got thumped 4-0. But it’s not about quantity, it’s about quality. The only stat that matters is the scoreline at the end. Bayern produced a performance of passion, power, poise and prowess; every attack bristled with intent and penetration, while allowing Barcelona to dally inconsequentially with the ball in the middle third of the pitch.
Barcelona’s best player – because he had to be, just to stem the tide – was Gerard Pique, by a mile. Bayern had 11 man-of-the-match performances, probably topped by Muller, who scored twice, assisted one and got away with a cheeky body check to give Robben the time to finish for the third goal. An honorable mention should also go to a Spaniard, Javi Martinez, who set the tone in the Bayern midfield with some tough tackling and intelligent passing.
There was controversy over at least two of the Bayern goals – Gomez looked slightly offside for the second goal (I happen to disagree – the attacking team should get the advantage), while Muller’s shoulder barge on Jordi Alba for the third goal incensed Barca (that wasn’t a foul either, if you ask me – Muller held his ground, no more). Any debate over those two incidents would do Bayern a disservice. A 4-0 final result was no less than their performance deserved.
Barcelona’s two best chances fell to the last person anybody would have picked to sneak a goal: young defender Marc Bartra. Unsurprisingly, he fluffed both.
Does anybody think Barcelona can overcome this deficit against that team? Not me. Not even a fully firing Messi can save them now. I also think that in Bayern you have just seen the 2013 Champions League winner and the new dominant force in European soccer.
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