Sunday, August 16, 2020

Bayern Blitzkrieg

As the world reels collectively from Bayern Munich's knock-out performance; we know what we have seen: one of the greatest performances by a UEFA Champions League team and one of the complete humiliations from one of the greatest teams on the planet.

It was sad to see Marc-Andre ter Stegen giving the ball away time and time again; as Barcelona's play-out-from-the-back strategy seemed to self-destruct before our very eyes. Bayern' s high-pressing game worked wonders; as their forwards won the ball back relentlessly to set up goal after goal with cruel German efficiency.

Man-Of-The-Match Thomas Muller was literally 'in the zone'; as the greatest 'interpreter of space' the world has ever seen was at the heart of it all; scoring; creating and being precisely where he needs to be almost every single time. Alphonso Davies; clearly now the best left-back in the world; did his best Maradona impersonation; bamboozling Nelson Semedo on the left flank before cutting back superbly for right-back Joshua Kimmich to prod home.

To cap it all off; it was substitute Philippe Coutinho; miraculously allowed to play against his parent club; who did further damage by crossing for Robert Lewandowski; before scoring two more himself to add further salt to the wounds. When the dust had finally settled; the Barca substitutes were busy wrecking chairs; Lionel Messi looked like he had seen a ghost; and Luis Saurez looked up at the heavens. The humiliation was complete.

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