What used to be billed as a battle of two five-time European champions tilted very mighty in one direction.
Bayern Munich raced out to a 4-1 lead over Barcelona after the well-known 31 minutes and by no technique appeared support, doubling it after halftime and winning, astoundingly, 8-2 in their Champions League quarterfinal in Lisbon, Portugal.
Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski headlined a matchup teeming with well-known particular person energy, but used to be the diversified mountainous names stepping up for Bayern Munich. Thomas Muller scored two targets, whereas Serge Gnabry and Ivan Perisic had a objective apiece sooner than halftime for the German champions, who are aiming to snatch a well-known treble since 2013.
Barcelona’s first objective came by strategy of Bayern defender David Alaba, who clipped Jordi Alba’s silly into his appreciate rep to connect it 1-1 in the seventh minute. Luis Suarez made it 4-2 in the 57th minute, objective correct for Joshua Kimmich to answer to 6 minutes later to revive the three-objective edge. Lewandowski simplest added onto the humiliation in the 84th minute with one in every of his appreciate sooner than Philippe Coutinho–on mortgage to Bayern from Barcelona–made it 8-2 soon after with a slack double.
Barcelona, which left Antoine Griezmann on the bench in a shift to a 4-4-2 formation, nearly broke through in the third minute on the counterattack. Messi sprung Sergi Roberto free down the left-hand aspect, where he obtained in on the support of Canadian rising well-known particular person Alphonso Davies. Roberto’s curling silly nearly chanced on its technique to Suarez, but it surely used to be objective correct out of his attain, and Manuel Neuer came off his line to certain it away.
Bayern then struck for the opener on its next time down into Barcelona’s discontinuance. Muller and Lewandowski labored an magnificent combination on the tip of the field, with Muller firing residence the opener from the perimeter of the residence objective correct into the fourth minute.
That lead didn’t final long. Alba’s silly trying to come to a decision on Suarez used to be inadvertently lobbed by Alaba into his appreciate rep, gifting Barcelona an equalizer and making it 1-1 after seven minutes.
Barcelona nearly went ahead on two events in the following three minutes. First, Suarez had a move in on the support of met by the on-speeding Neuer, who saved his close-vary likelihood, sooner than Sergio Busquets hit the post on another replace.
Messi then had a raffle saved in the 20th minute, with Neuer smothering his likelihood from in close after he’d been played in on the support of the Bayern protection.
Bayern then pounced on its next likelihood in a game whose tempo could maybe maybe not maybe be sustained. After some stress pressured a Barcelona turnover, Gnabry chanced on Perisic on the overlapping move on his left, and the Croatian beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen from a great attitude, powering his likelihood within the some distance post for a 2-1 lead in the 21st minute.
Bayern must amassed’ve made it 3-1 in the 27th minute, when Lewandowski had a rebound tumble to him on the objective mouth, objective correct for Ter Stegen to connect the level-easy set. It grew to vary into 3-1 soon enough, despite the truth that.
Leon Goretzka lobbed a trot over the tip for Gnabry, who obtained in on the support of Clement Lenglet and accomplished with poise to elongate the result in two.
Ter Stegen nearly had a self-inflicted error without prolong after, when he became it over trying to play it out of the support. He proficient Lewandowski a raffle to strike, simplest to connect the desperation set.
Now not that it in actual fact mattered. Bayern made it 4-1 in the 31st minute through Muller’s second of the sport, along with his redirect off Kimmich’s trot extending the lead.
The second half of started mighty delight in the well-known ended. Barcelona used to be sloppy and disjointed in its appreciate discontinuance, whereas Bayern Munich maintained the stress. Its first likelihood came through a enlighten ball down the center from Neuer, which picked out Muller streaking on the support of the Barcelona support line. Muller became and fed Perisic, who hit his likelihood lawful into Ter Stegen’s chest in the 49th minute.
Yet another likelihood came through Goretzka, who sliced through Barcelona’s protection to fulfill Kimmich’s ball over the tip, settled along with his chest but fired high a minute later.
Barcelona wished a lifeline, and it obtained one in the 57th minute. Messi chanced on Alba on the left, who crop it support for Suarez. The Uruguayan then did well to crop support on Jerome Boateng–who surely had shades of his defective lowlight vs. Barcelona and Messi in 2015–and beat Neuer with a shot from within the field to connect it 4-2.
That lifeline didn’t final long. Davies absolutely abused Nelson Semedo down the left-hand aspect, getting to the tip line and slicing a silly support during the center of the field, where Kimmich raced onto it to fireside residence the objective that gave Bayern its three-objective lead support.
The most reasonable thing that hadn’t took worry for Bayern Munich used to be Lewandowski scoring, but that inevitability took worry in the 84th minute. Cruelly for Barcelona, it came off a feed from Philippe Coutinho–on mortgage to Bayern from Barcelona–and used to be upheld after a VAR overview confirmed his header used to be onside. The objective used to be Lewandowski’s 54th in all competitions this season, 14th in the Champions League.
The cruelty continued moments later, with Coutinho getting two of his appreciate to, sensationally, attach it 8-2.
Here had been the lineups for both teams:
Bayern Munich will advance to face either Manchester Metropolis or Lyon in the semifinals on Wednesday, with the victor of that match reaching the Aug. 23 final against either PSG or RB Leipzig.
