OSBC
15 September, 2021
Bayern Munich freewheeled to a conclusion that was formulated well before a ball had been kicked at Camp Nou.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side, a favourite for the Champions League crown, were presumed to be in an altogether different sphere to Barcelona.
It took around 15 minutes of their meeting to agree with that line of thought, which became more concrete as the clock ticked on. Every danger move on Tuesday night was designed by Bayern, every disappointing offensive phase belonged to Barca.
The Bundesliga club had scored through Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski twice, but the scoreline did not reflect the full story of their dominance in a match that was decorated by 18-year-old Jamal Musiala.
Despite possessing 11 European Cups between them, the fixture had the feel of a heavyweight hardly getting out of gear to get past a minnow.
Der Spiegel, the German publication, dubbed Barca “shrunken giants” ahead of the Group E game and there was no counter to that description. The Catalans were utterly anaemic in possession and did not manage a single shot on target.
Bayern had more efforts from inside the box than their opponents had mustered in total. This was one-sided and this was very much as predicted.
Despite Barca swatting away such talk in the build-up, there was obviously a large swathe of apprehension for the hosts heading into this encounter.
There was no Leo Messi, no Luis Suarez, and no Antoine Griezmann, but the tormenting memories of an 8-2 loss at the hands of Bayern last August still coloured the air.