This was more than just a victory; it was an exorcism, with the cheers echoing through the Olympic stadium as Barcelona finally laid their ghosts to rest atop Montjuïc hill. Bayern Munich, the team they had struggled to defeat, the giants who had humiliated them with an 8-2 scoreline in Lisbon, had beaten them six times in a row, amassing an aggregate score of 22-4, and had not conceded in their last four meetings. Yet, here they were, dismantled and defeated. Barcelona sliced through them four times, with Raphinha scoring a hat-trick and Robert Lewandowski adding another in a 4-1 triumph.
“You owe us one,” Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta, had said to Hansi Flick; now, the coach who, like Lewandowski, had been part of that 8-2 debacle, repaid the debt in full. “It’s not about the past; it’s about the present,” Flick had insisted. Right here, right now, his team looked genuinely formidable once again. A decade since their last victory in this competition, Barcelona desperately needed this win. They achieved it with surgical precision, turning the match into an exhibition of incisive play.
This was a football match played on the edge, with every move carrying a sense of danger. Barcelona’s determination to play high, combined with Bayern’s willingness to do the same, created a game squeezed into a narrow strip, with an abyss on either side. The threat was constant, as neither team shied away from the edge, sprinting and fighting for every inch. Barcelona were the first to break through, with Alejandro Balde finding Lewandowski, who passed to Pedri, who then moved the ball to Fermín López. His superb pass allowed Raphinha to sprint free, round Manuel Neuer, and set Montjuïc alight.
Bayern responded quickly, with Harry Kane heading in to make it 1-1 after six minutes, though VAR ruled it out for offside. However, ten minutes later, Serge Gnabry got behind Barcelona, providing the cross for Kane to volley past Iñaki Peña. Barcelona’s high-pressing game, which had caught opponents offside more than twice as often as any other team in Europe this season, felt excessively risky at this stage, unable to intercept passes quickly enough.
Bayern began to dominate, with more chances seeming inevitable. Yet, Barcelona found their way back into the game, inch by inch, and then in sudden 40-metre leaps, catching the Bavarians off guard. The first time they did, it was with a simplicity that infuriated Vincent Kompany, with a hint of a push. Lamine Yamal clipped a pass forward, eliminating two lines. Kim Min-jae misjudged the flight, allowing López to turn, run into the area, and lift the ball beyond Neuer. Lewandowski then put it into an open net.
This plan was coming together with breathtaking precision, executed again before the break. Marc Casadó, pressed deep into his own half, worked his way out and struck a lovely long diagonal ball to Raphinha. Running to the edge of the area, he shot between Dayot Upamecano’s legs, flying into the far corner. Bayern sought a way back in after half-time, but Barcelona struck again. Lamine Yamal’s superb ball swung into the space on the left, and Raphinha guided a perfect finish past Neuer.
What a night it had been, a vindication for the winger who had been pushed towards the door. Released and embraced, life is different now. For all of them.
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