Five Reasons Bayern Crushed Barca

I was, as many football enthusiasts were on this side of the world, up early and huddled under blankets on a chilly Wednesday morning as I witnessed Bayern Munich dismantle and eventually crush Barcelona with devastating, albeit surprising, ease. Many pundits have jumped on the Bayern bandwagon, claiming them to be “the best team in the world” following their historic scalp. Whilst the tie may all but be over, what can we realistically take from the game? Here are five points for you to chew over (insert Suarez pun here) from the match:

1.     Messi, or lack thereof.

It’s pretty logical to think that the best team in the world should have the best player in the world, and Messi is, well beyond doubt, exactly that. His performances this season have been mind-boggling. His sublime finish in the first leg of the quarter final against Paris-Saint-Germain marked his 72^nd (yes, you read correctly) goal of the 2012-13 campaign for club and country. Against Bayern though, he was merely a shadow. His complete lack of performance was most probably down to a lack of match fitness (due to an injury he picked up against PSG), but when playing well, Barca has the perfect attacking trio: Lionel, Xavi, and Iniesta. Not many stop those three when they’re on-song.

2.     Müller, or presence thereof.

I’m a big fan of Thomas Müller. After announcing himself on the global stage in South Africa three years ago with a typically German display of efficiency in tearing England apart on the counter, big things were predicted. In the past two seasons, he’s begun to show why. He’s an extremely intelligent player. His runs in the attacking third drag defenders around and allow others (typically Manzukic this season) the freedom to find space and win the headlines. Müller himself though has exceptional composure, typified by his two goals, and a certain cheek to his play, typified by his basketball-esque body-check on a retreating Jordi Alba allowing Robben in to score. All up, a man-of-the-match display.

3.     Dante’s afro.

When Chelsea recruited David Luiz for €25 million in 2011, a good two-thirds of that was for his glorious afro. Brazilian behemoth Dante is the latest afro-toting defender to gain praise for his performances, in many ways exemplifying Bayern’s style of play against Barcelona. His physically dominating performance set the standard for an impeccably controlled high-pressing display, not allowing Barca’s players a moment on the ball without being surrounded by red shirts. When the ball broke free, Bayern’s pace let loose, setting them straight on the front foot.

4.     Barca’s woeful defensive depth.

With age doing defensive stalwart Carlos Puyol very few favors, Barcelona can’t afford to have any other injured centre-backs at this stage of the season. Someone clearly forgot to pass the message onto Javier Mascherano, who was ruled out for six weeks at the start of the month with a knee injury. Without first-choice Pique’s two usual other-centre-halves, youngster Marc Bartra was fast-tracked into the starting eleven, with unsurprisingly erratic results. Whilst Barcelona are hardly famed for a great defense at the best of times, the relationship between Pique and Bartra – and goalkeeper Victor Valdes – leads to a defense more porous than Swiss cheese – and Germany’s counter-attacking blade came down ruthlessly.

5.     Robben, Ribery, and Gomez all turned up to a game together.

In years of watching Bayern’s individually brilliant, but collectively rubbish front three of Arjen Robben, Frank Ribery and Mario Gomez, I have never seen all three play as well together as they did on Wednesday morning/Tuesday night. Robben’s powerful running combined with an end product (!), Ribery’s tireless tracking-back and counter-attack orchestration, and Gomez completing a grand total of five passes to go along with his cracking finish from all of two yards, the world witnessed what Munich has been waiting for all these years: a performance worthy of the hype.