Barcelona proved to the world that they are truly the best in a thrilling encounter against the German champions Bayern Munich.
Barcelona, or should I say, Lionel Messi, outclassed Bayern Munich in one of the best football matches played this year. Forget about the scoreline for just a second, because for about 75 minutes of the game, it was a spectacle.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich gave us all what football fans most desire: a game with a beautiful storyline. Not the same old one-sided match that we see these big clubs playing. No, this was the best against the best. A match that produced end-to-end attacking football. ‘Parking the bus’ is not something these two teams are used to and that is why the world set its eyes on this Champions League semi-final.
What made it even more of an exciting encounter was the fact that both teams are possession based sides. Bayern Munich eventually won the battle for possession, but Barcelona proved—like Chelsea did against Manchester United—that possession can’t win a game without chances being finished.
Luis Suarez and Robert Lewandowski had two clear cut chances, both of which should have been goals, and had they gone in, it would have altered the pace and momentum of the game. Between the two sides, Barcelona always looked like the ones who were going to break the deadlock. But Ballon D’Or nominee and the best goalkeeper in the world Manuel Neuer wasn’t opening up shop. He was probably the man of the match for the first half of the game.
But then came the one and only, Lionel Messi. The four-time Ballon D’Or winner has been known to go somewhat silent in the knockout stages of this competition. However, like he did against Manchester City, he put in the performance of a lifetime. Reminding us all of his true abilities, there are no more adjectives to describe the Argentinian. He is simply out of this world.
The match was slowly coming to a close and a goalless draw seemed on the cards. Then came the 77th minute. It’s almost as if Messi had decided suddenly to switch on his attacking prowess. Because for the next fifteen ominutes, he put in a performance that left fans asking the question: what just happened? As Thierry Henry said, “Leo Messi just happened.’’
Messi scored two sublime goals in a period of three minutes to put Barcelona in the lead. The momentum then fell completely to Bayern, but this meant that the Bavarians had to attack high up the field and leave their defence vulnerable.
Barcelona took advantage of this and had a quick counter attack with Suarez passing it to Messi whilst looking for a foul. Messi then laid it off Neymar who left his marker Benatia eating dust and only had one man between him and the goal, Neuer. Neymar nutmegged him, put the ball into the back of the net and essentially put Barcelona in to the Berlin Final.
One cannot forget that there is still another tie to be played at the Allianz Arena. Bayern’s sensational comeback against Porto will prey on the mind, but Barcelona are most definitely not Porto.
Barcelona finished the match 3-0 victors with 9o,000 fans in the Nou Camp singing one thing: Messi, Messi, Messi.
