Rampant Barcelona all but sealed a place in the Champions League final with a devastating late scoring spree to defeat Bayern Munich on Pep Guardiola’s grand return to the Nou Camp.
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Lionel Messi scored twice, proving Guardiola exactly right in his pre-game assertion that the Argentine is impossible to stop.
Bayern had managed to subdue Messi until 77 minutes were on the clock and a goalless draw was looking likely, but then he exploded with two goals in three minutes before turning creator to release Neymar, as the German champions searched for an away goal, for a joyously celebrated injury time third.
Pique: “Defensively we were very good, because for a team like Bayern to not have one shot on target is sensational.”
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) May 6, 2015
It will be a bitter pill to swallow for Guardiola because Bayern had recovered from a rocky start to look comfortable in the second period, but then Messi brilliantly took over and condemned the contest to a fate of his choosing.
The match was preceded by a brief but warm hug between opposing managers Luis Enrique and Guardiola, accompanied by a sprinkling of applause from home fans for their returning ex-boss.
When the action started, it became apparent that Guardiola had dreamed up an unusual extreme version of man-to-man marking in an attempt to subdue Barca’s attacking power, with every home player finding his every move tracked by a Bayern shadow.
The strategy failed, though, with the first chance coming quickly as Messi’s touch to Luis Suarez saw the Uruguayan striker’s shot saved by Manuel Neuer.
An even better opportunity soon followed from an unlikely source as Messi headed on a long ball to release Suarez, who raced through but saw his low shot brilliantly saved by Neuer’s outstretched right leg.
Sensing that his team were being outplayed, Guardiola wasted no time in changing his plans, abandoning his three-man defence and reverting to a more conventional 4-4-2 formation after just 15 minutes.
That had the desired effect of settling the game down, and Bayern soon should have taken the lead when Thomas Muller did well down the right and delivered a perfect cross for Robert Lewandowski, but the striker lunged towards the ball a fraction too late and sent his shot wide.
Barca were still carrying the majority of the threat, and came close again with the last chance before the break when a brilliant pass from Andres Iniesta sent Dani Alves racing through, but Neuer again reacted quickly to make another excellent block.
The opening stages of the second half were very different as Bayern penned the hosts back into their own half, carrying out disciplined defensive work to prevent Barca from establishing any fluidity or control.
Messi forced an easy save from Neuer after a smart exchange with Neymar and the Brazilian then curled a better chance well over the top after a pass from Ivan Rakitic.
But on the whole Bayern were marginally the better side and had home fans’ hearts fluttering when Thiago’s shot took a big deflection but span kindly for Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Then the game turned, significantly aided for the opener by Alves, who did brilliantly to win the ball back from Juan Bernat and beat two challenges to find Messi, allowing the Argentine to cut inside and drill home a fierce low shot reminiscent of his strike at Wembley in the 2011 final.
Amazingly, three minutes later Messi scored again, this time receiving a pass from Rakitic and racing into the box, bamboozling Jerome Boateng and dinking a perfect right-footed finish over the advancing Neuer.
Bayern were shell-shocked, unsure whether to chase the game or ensure they didn’t concede again, but ultimately they did neither with any conviction as Suarez and Messi combined deep in stoppage time to send Neymar clean through, and the Brazilian kept cool to convert a low finish past Neuer.
