Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Barcelona Break-Down, Bayern Munich Coast


 7-0 

The all-German Champions League final is now assured as Bayern Munich easily handle Barcelona a second time.  Barcelona striker Messi played and scored over the weekend, but today he was left on the bench for the entire match.  True he was not very effective in the first game against Bayern Munich, but down four goals you expect the best finisher in the world right now to play.

Without Messi on the field, Barcelona were quite dull and rather predictable with their passing.  They also seemed to lack the spark that gives them confidence in these big games against top clubs.  Bayern Munich on the other hand were quite comfortable passing through the midfield and extremely organized in defense.

Barcelona were outplayed in the first-half and after the break Munich's lead further increased.  Robben was played into space wide right with a good pass out of the back by defender Alaba.  Cutting across to his preferred left foot, Robben was able to shake defender Adriano before curling his shot around the keeper and into the net (48').

As if the five goal deficit was not already insurmountable, a Barcelona own-goal completely killed their spirit.  Ribery was attempting to hit forward Mandzukic at the far-post, but defender Pique managed to get in-between the two Munich players.  However, his attempted clearance came off his shin awkwardly and settled in his own net (72').  Shortly after Müller scored a final goal for Bayern when Ribery played a cross to the far-post that he finished with a header (76').

Bayern Munich finished the semifinal round with an aggregate score 7-0 and advances to the Champions League final for the second straight year.  Munich are slight favorites against Borussia Dortmund and the two clubs play each other this weekend in the Bundesliga.  The outcome will have little effect on the league standings, but it should be a good preview of the upcoming final in London.

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