Tactical Conclusion:
Barcelona’s Trio Too Much for Hobbled Bayern
In what was a sloppy farce of a football match rife with defensive lapses, Barcelona toyed with their opposition, not wanting to embarrass their former coach, but making sure the game stayed well out of reach.
BARCA SCORE AS NEEDED
Given the away goal rule Bayern were tasked with scoring three and not conceding during this second leg, having failed to score an away goal themselves at the Nou Camp.
For an eight minute stretch Bayern had a realistic chance of threatening Barcelona, from the 7th minute, when Benatia scored, to the 15th minute, when Neymar scored his first goal.
It was slim pickings, but this was the game’s best stretch.
Perhaps predictably, it didn’t last. Bayern were quickly and soundly undone by the Barcelona trio who seem to have as many goals in them as are needed. Both goals came via a 1-2-3 punch of Messi to Suarez to Neymar.
The only caveat to the trio’s brilliance, was that Benatia, despite his early unmarked goal, made things easier for them by a pair of defensive errors to match his pair of errors during the first leg.
He and Alonso tried an ill-advised offsides trap on the first Barcelona goal, with both Suarez and Neymar streaming in behind them. Messi’s brilliant through ball found Suarez, who was Benatia’s cover, and he unselfishly fed Neymar.
On the second Neymar goal Suarez was running through the middle unmarked, and instead of engaging him, Benatia inexplicably closed down Messi--who was already marked by Alonso--letting Suarez run on to Messi’s flicked header and into his second breakaway, which he also put on a plate for Neymar.
Because Dante has endured such a terrible year of football and has certainly proven himself capable of also making four serious lapses over a two-legged tie, Bayern’s rarely mentioned injury to Badstuber ends up seeming more significant.
While Pep Guardiola’s bold tactics and Messi’s brilliance produced a masterpiece of a first leg, the 94th minute goal essentially killed the return leg, and for all tactical purposes it was over before a half hour had passed.
ENDNOTES:
Barcelona’s Trio Too Much for Hobbled Bayern
In what was a sloppy farce of a football match rife with defensive lapses, Barcelona toyed with their opposition, not wanting to embarrass their former coach, but making sure the game stayed well out of reach.
BARCA SCORE AS NEEDED
Given the away goal rule Bayern were tasked with scoring three and not conceding during this second leg, having failed to score an away goal themselves at the Nou Camp.
For an eight minute stretch Bayern had a realistic chance of threatening Barcelona, from the 7th minute, when Benatia scored, to the 15th minute, when Neymar scored his first goal.
It was slim pickings, but this was the game’s best stretch.
Perhaps predictably, it didn’t last. Bayern were quickly and soundly undone by the Barcelona trio who seem to have as many goals in them as are needed. Both goals came via a 1-2-3 punch of Messi to Suarez to Neymar.
The only caveat to the trio’s brilliance, was that Benatia, despite his early unmarked goal, made things easier for them by a pair of defensive errors to match his pair of errors during the first leg.
He and Alonso tried an ill-advised offsides trap on the first Barcelona goal, with both Suarez and Neymar streaming in behind them. Messi’s brilliant through ball found Suarez, who was Benatia’s cover, and he unselfishly fed Neymar.
On the second Neymar goal Suarez was running through the middle unmarked, and instead of engaging him, Benatia inexplicably closed down Messi--who was already marked by Alonso--letting Suarez run on to Messi’s flicked header and into his second breakaway, which he also put on a plate for Neymar.
Because Dante has endured such a terrible year of football and has certainly proven himself capable of also making four serious lapses over a two-legged tie, Bayern’s rarely mentioned injury to Badstuber ends up seeming more significant.
While Pep Guardiola’s bold tactics and Messi’s brilliance produced a masterpiece of a first leg, the 94th minute goal essentially killed the return leg, and for all tactical purposes it was over before a half hour had passed.
ENDNOTES:
- For the second game in a row, Dani Alves completed fifteen passes to Messi (fourfourtwo.com).
- Javier Mascherano had one less tackle (9) then Bayern’s entire back line (10) (whoscored.com).
- Due to Barcelona’s poor marking, Benatia could have scored a hat trick, as he was left open on three corner kicks.
- Both Bayern and Barcelona were playing with a 4-4-2 formation at one point during the second half of the return leg. It may be the only time we ever see that.