As fireworks lit up the Barcelona skyline in celebration of La Blaugrana reaching the Champions League final, over at the Allianz Arena, their former Coach Pep Guardiola marched across the sideline towards his old friend. The man who had often gotten the better of Luis Enrique as the ‘better’ player and the ‘better Coach’ finally fell short. Sportsmanlike, Pep embraced his opposite number, and in doing so, one would think, offered Enrique his heartfelt felicitations.
Barcelona, of course, had just sealed their tie against Bayern Munich with a 5-3 aggregate win, a result which will see them travel to Berlin, the capital of Germany which lies 600 km north of Munich, for the final. And judging by their sub-par performance, the Catalans, literally, and perhaps metaphorically, have a long way to go before potentially being crowned champions.
Bathing in the success of their first-leg 3-0 win at Camp Nou, Barca seemed content to take their foot off the pedal in the most crucial of times. Bayern, yet again depleted due to injury, began the match with a bang, and exposed Barcelona’s deficiencies with set-pieces as they hit the lead on the seventh minute from a corner. Mehdi Benatia, who himself was ruthlessly criticised for his inability to handle crucial moments, ironically, became a figure of hope for the Bavarians.
And just as Bayern seemed as though they would somehow miraculously claw their way back into the tie, Barcelona hit back through the triumvirate of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar. The two goals in the 15th and 29th minute followed the same pattern - Messi would provide the incisive pass to cut open the Bayern defence and Suarez would set up Neymar - strikes which all but ended Bayern’s hopes of a comeback.
No comments:
Post a Comment