Barcelona vs Bayern Munich: Initial reactions and observations on an 8-2 demolition

Initial reactions and observations

• Messi was a factor in this match perhaps two or three times, but Bayern managed to neutralize the Argentinian legend while raining goals down on the end of the pitch where he could do nothing.
• Ivan Perisic! What a game from the Croatian! If you groaned when you saw him in the starting lineup instead of Kingsley Coman, shame on you. Perisic was outstanding. His early contributions gave Bayern critical momentum. And Kingsley Coman was a nightmare for Barca coming off the bench for the final thirty minutes.
• Go get Müller’d, Barca!
• Sweet revenge for Coutinho: the superstar Barca minted with their ridiculous fee and then discarded put two goals past his employers. Nicely done, Phil!
• Bayern’s defense may have conceded two goals — one of them an unlucky own-goal — but they managed to pull themselves together and stand firm while Barca had a chance to get back into the game. With Niklas Süle now back and Pavard potentially also returning, they will only get better.
• 8-2! Add that to the list of fun scorelines to tease your friends with.

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90 + 2’ — Arturo Vidal goes into the books with a yellow card.

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89’ — GOAL Bayern! 8-2! Holy hell, Coutinho scores his second!

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86’ — GOAL Bayern! 7-2! Phil Coutinho makes his home club sorry by scoring the magical 7th goal. (It’s a German thing.)

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84’ — Corentin Tolisso comes on for Goretzka and Lucas Hernandez for Alphonso Davies.

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82’ — GOAL Bayern! 6-2! Coutinho takes the ball almost to the goal line before chipping a pass inside to Lewandowski. Lewy heads it into the net.

VAR is reviewing... goal stands.

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79’ — Coutinho wins a corner.

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75’ — Coutinho comes on for Gnabry and Süle for Boateng.

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70’ — Ansu Fati replaces Sergio Busquets.

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69’ — Barca get lucky: Coman receives the ball right in their penalty area, but Alba manages to slide in front of his shot and send it over the bar. A moment after, Gnabry gets a follow-up shot — also blocked.

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67’ — Kingsley Coman is on for Perisic.

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66’ — Davies goes down momentarily after he and Semedo bang heads together.

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63’ — GOAL for BAYERN! Have yourself a day, Phonzie! Davies blows by Semedo and dribbles all the way into the 11-yard box before laying off for Kimmich. Kimmich does not give Ter Stegen a chance. Magnifico, as my Spanish match-commentators just said.

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61’ — Hasan Salihamidzic sees the yellow card! He must have been chirping from the bench.

Kingsley Coman is warming up. We’ll see him soon.

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60’ — Perisic gets another unlikely opportunity to shoot courtesy of Goretzka, but the ball goes high.

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59’ — Jordi Alba receives a yellow card for fouling Kimmich, who is visibly annoyed.

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57’ — Goal for Barca Jordi Alba catches Bayern’s defense off guard by receiving a long ball and immediately firing it back inside to Suarez as he rushes up the middle far in front of Bayern’s defenders. Suarez manages to elude them and score.

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55’ — Suarez gets his overdue yellow after fouling Thiago.

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53’ — Lewandowski finds the back of the net after a quick Bayern attack, but the goal is disallowed, because Perisic received the ball well offsides before passing to Lewy.

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52’ — Alphonso Davies is booked for hitting Arturo Vidal in the ear with his forearm. Davies and his teammates seem anxious to makes sure Vidal knows it was not intentional.

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51’ — Kimmich gives Goretzka a beautiful pass as he makes a run into the box. Goretzka chests it and fires — reminiscent of Mario Götze’s famous goal in 2014 — but it goes high.

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49’ — Perisic takes another shot on target: Neuer delivers a punt to Müller, who fights off Barcelona’s defenders to lay off the ball to Perisic. Unfortunately, the shot is straight to Ter Stegen.

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46’ — We’re back! For Barcelona, Antoine Griezmann comes on for Roberto.

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HALFTIME: Barcelona 1 : 4 Bayern

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45’ — After Barca aimlessly circulates the ball, looking for an opening, Suarez manages to break away just far enough to shoot from the edge of the box. Neuer makes the save.

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42’ — Suarez stomps on Thiago’s foot, stealing the ball, and then is swept off his feet by Boateng. Boateng sees the yellow card for it.

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39’ — Lewandowski gets on the end of a corner kick, but Ter Stegen is in position to catch the ball.

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36’ — Perisic takes a heat check: after Ter Stegen is forced into another poor pass, Bayern wins the ball. Ivan fires a wicked, curling shot past the far post.

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31’ — GOAL 4-1 BAYERN! Kimmich can do it all. Right-back Kimmich receives the ball on the right . He sends in a perfect cross that Müller converts in inimitable style.

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29’ — Ter Stegen nearly makes it 4-1. He misplays a pass out the back, giving Lewandowski a shot. This time, Lewy cannot find the net.

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28’ — GOAL 3-1 BAYERN! Bayern is piling it on now: Thiago and Goretzka place a rapid one-touch combination to put the ball at Gnabry’s feet as he runs in behind Barca’s defense. Chef Gnabry buries the shot!

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27’ — Another chance created by Perisic! He crosses again inside to Müller. Ter Stegen mishandles the ball and Müller nearly puts it away.

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26’ — Boateng intercepts a corner-kick intended for Lenglet. A moment before, he intercepted a dangerous cross. Both of Barcelona’s attempts miss the mark, though.

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24’ — Barcelona is on the defensive now. Kimmich finds Thiago unmarked and the Spaniard fires a rocket over the post.

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22’— GOAL Bayern! Serge Gnabry shifts the moment of an attack by stealing the ball outside Barca’s penalty area. He finds Perisic open on the left. Perisic closes in on the goal and shoots at the far post. The ball bounces off of Ter Stegen’s outstretched foot and up into the top right corner behind him.

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20’ — Messi somehow dribbles through Davies, Boateng, and Alaba to shoot — fortunately, directly at Neuer.

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19’ — The referee has a few words with Joshua Kimmich after he clips De Jong on the foot, sending him to the ground.

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13’ — Ter Stegen punts the ball right to Thiago, who launches another attack. Lewandowski is wiped out by Jordi Alba after just missing the ball.

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12’ — Davies delivers a dangerous cross intended for Goretzka. Barca clears. Kimmich’s corner kick goes out near the near post.

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11’ — Interesting scene: Messi catches Davies on the heel as he speeds away from the Argentinian. He goes out of his way to help Davies up and gives him a pat on the head.

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10’ — The next scare for Bayern: Semedo nutmegs Boateng, giving Suarez a one-on-one chance. Neuer manages to deflect the shot. A moment later, a fantastic cross from Messi just misses his targets but bounces dangerously off the post.

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7’ — Goal for Barcelona: Sergi Roberto receives a long ball on Bayern’s right flank. He sends a great cross inside for Luis Suarez. David Alaba accidentally kicks it past Neuer in attempting to clear it.

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4’ — GOAL BAYERN!!! Bayern counter in style: Ivan Perisic provides the ball to Müller at the top of the box. Müller brings it down to Lewandowski in front of him. Lewy puts it back at Müller’s feet and Müller finishes with his left into the left corner past Ter Stegen.

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3’ — First scare for Bayern: Barca catches Davies up field and make a run up the flank. Boateng just manages to intercept the cross.

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Kickoff — We’re underway! Bayern immediately dispossesses Barca.

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One hour until kickoff: We have lineups! Now this is a HUGE shock — Ivan Perisic starts instead of Kingsley Coman. Wonder what Hansi Flick is thinking.

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THE CHAMPIOOOOONS! It’s finally here — Bayern Munich vs Barcelona, at the Estadio Sport Lisboa e Benfica. A true clash of titans, the two FCB’s are among the top three biggest clubs in the world. These are the games the Champions League was meant for.

Bayern Munich come into the game with one key injury — that of Benjamin Pavard. Joshua Kimmich slots into the right back spot in his stead, leaving Leon Goretzka and former Barca player Thiago Alcantara to man the defense. While all eyes will be on the likes of Alphonso Davies, Robert Lewandowski, and Leo Messi, the two teams’ respective midfields could just end up deciding the outcome of the tie.

Quique Setien reportedly plans to start his team in a 4-4-2 with four midfielders in a diamond, dropping both Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann to the bench. This is probably a ploy to dominate the midfield and cut off the supply to Bayern’s attack, which Hansi Flick will be well aware of. Bayern would ideally counter by having Thomas Muller drop back and David Alaba push up into the center of the pitch, keeping the numbers game stable.

Of course, that’s just one aspect of what makes this tie so interesting. After having spent the entire week analyzing and dissecting this tie from inside out, we at BFW have built up quite a bit of material to read while waiting for the match to start. The snippet above was just a preview. Now, it’s time to focus on the game. Let’s hope Hansi and the boys get it done.

It’s Bayern time.

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Match Info

Location: Estádio Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Lisbon, Portugal

Time: 8:00 pm local time, 3:00 pm EST

TV/streaming: Fubo.tv, Find Your Country

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