MATCH REPORT: Barcelona vs Bayern Munich [Champions League]

The night after Cristiano Ronaldo overtook Lionel Messi in the goal tally for not only this season's Champions League, but for the all time top scorer, before seeing his team lose, it was the turn of two of the big boys in Europe. Barcelona and Bayern Munich have met previously in the knock out round of the Champions League not long ago, but those ties didn't end too well for the Spanish team when they took a heaving beating. Bayern were without their top players in the shape of Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery though, while Barca were at full strength which meant it could be a night to remember for either team. 

It was a first half that was dominated by Barcelona as Bayern played a man marking tactic that allowed the front three players a lot of space on the ball close to their box. It didn't even take 5 minutes for Barca to cause Bayern a problem when a ball was slipped through to Luis Suarez and he was left one on one with the keeper. Jerome Boateng was coming back on the cover and he tried to pull Suarez back by putting his left hand on his shoulder, but Manuel Neuer would have reached the ball anyway meaning the referee didn't give a second thought to not giving the penalty. 

Messi played a big part in helping Barca register their first attempts on goal at the beginning of the first half, starting when he held up the ball as he waited for Neymar to join him. He had his back to goal and played a short pass in front of Neymar who got a clear shot on goal after he took the ball away from the defender, but his shot was aimed straight at Neuer. Five minutes later, the Bayern defence was left wide open again. Messi brought down a header into the path of Suarez who was left in acres of space when the flag didn't go up. He was left one on one with the keeper as the defenders couldn't get back in time, but Neuer got down well to save the shot with his right foot.

The rest of the half was all Barcelona. Messi was showing off his brilliance all over the pitch and he weaved his way around three Bayern players to get himself into the box and from the far right side of the box, he tried to curl an effort towards goal, which could possibly have been a cross, but it went wide of the far post. Sergio Busquets followed not long later when he played a beautiful ball up field to Alba who crossed the ball in with his first touch. If Boateng hadn't been there to make the block, it could easily have been an opening goal for the home side. The corner that followed this was met well by Suarez who got up above his defender. He powered his header in the direction of the ball, but it flew just over the crossbar. 

Just before the half time whistle, Barcelona won a free kick which Messi took from the edge of the box. He curled the effort towards Neuer's near post, but the keeper got across easily to catch the shot. Andres Iniesta opened up the Bayern defence moments later when he chipped the ball over the top of them to find Dani Alves who was running onto the ball. He had to stretch to reach the ball, but he still managed to direct his shot on target. Neuer, once again, had taken up a good starting position to stop the ball from going into the net. 

Both teams made a bright start to the second half but neither created any clear cut chances that would open the scoring in the tie. They were compact and passing the ball around well when they had time in possession. It was Barca who created the first chance of the second half near the hour mark when Neymar turned his back to goal to play a short ball to Messi who was running onto the pass. He took the shot sweetly and put some pace behind it, but again, the shot was straight down the middle at Neuer. 

Bayern looked to be struggling defensively at some points in the second half and it was shown when they struggled to get a simple ball clear which allowed Barcelona to keep pressing them high and cause more problems. Ivan Rakitic chased the ball down and eventually won it from the Bayern player and he widened the play by passing to Neymar who was on the left. He tried to curl his shot into the top right corner, but he didn't get his angles right and it was high and wide of the target. 

The away side could only register one attempt of any importance in the second half and that was started when Thiago was found on the edge of the 18 yard box. He took the shot first time, but it wasn't the most powerful of shots which meant that the deflection off Iniesta took a lot of pace off the ball. It did almost wrong foot Marc-Andre ter Stegen though, but he managed to get across to hold the ball. 

It took some brilliance to break down the Bayern defence, and there would be only one player that could open the scoring with such quality. Neymar had a weak penalty appeal moments before which the referee waved away and Alves was quickest to win back the ball for the home side from Xabi Alonso where he passed the ball across to Messi. He pulled the ball back before powering the ball into the back of the net on Neuer's near side, leaving the keeper no chance of getting close to the shot. It was a goal that had the Barcelona fans bowing down to their main man and one that put him level on Champions League goals with Ronaldo once again. 

Only three minutes later, Messi had scored again. He weaved his way through Boateng, leaving the defender on the floor, and from the right side of the six yard box he chipped the ball over Neuer who stayed standing. The keeper brought his hand up to try and get something to the ball, but it was already over his head and bouncing into the far bottom corner and away from the covering defender. Two touches of class may have taken the game away from Bayern Munich before they even get into the second tie. 

It wasn't over yet though as Neymar, in particular, kept pushing forward and causing a lot of problems for the opposition's defence. He slipped the ball past four Bayern defenders to reach Suarez, but the ball was played slightly behind him which stopped him in his tracks slightly, but his shot ended high over the cross bar. This was followed by some Bayern pressure. The second goal to wake them up, but the chances they created just weren't getting close to goal or causing any problems for any of the Barcelona players. They hadn't had the best game and it seemed that they were starting to regret that at this point in the game.

Suarez had another chance a few minutes last when he won the ball back after a poor clearing header from the Bayern defence. He ran at the defence from the right side and chose to square the ball across to Neymar instead of taking the shot himself. Neymar did get to the ball first, but slipped as he took the shot. He still managed to direct the shot towards the target, but Rafinha was in the right place to turn the ball out for a corner. 

It took Bayern just under 20 minutes to even get close to the Barcelona goal. Thomas Muller had the strength to beat Jordi Alba and he created space down the right side to cross a low ball across the box which met Robert Lewandowski who was left unmarked in the middle as he tried to turn the ball towards the target, but his shot was off target. That was only the first of two attempts that Bayern had in the first half; the other half chance came on the half hour mark. Thiago tried to curl the ball across the box from the left to find Bastian Schweinsteiger, but the pass wasn't the greatest and it curled wide of the far post without Schweinsteiger getting any type of touch on it. 

In the final minute of added time, Neymar rounded it all off for Barcelona. Most of the Bayern players had pushed forward, leaving a lot of space in behind for the Barca players to counter attack in. Suarez got fouled during the counter attack, but he still managed to get the ball to Messi's feet, allowing the referee to play a great advantage. Messi played in Neymar straight away and he had no defenders around him which allowed him to put himself in a one on one situation with the goalkeeper. He kept his cool and calmly slotted the ball past Neuer and into the back of the net.

A 3-0 lead could prove to be a difficult one for Bayern to turn around considering how well Barcelona played in the first tie, but if they do plan on making it to the final, then they'll need a better game plan. Pep Guardiola's tactics obviously didn't work in the way that he'd hoped against his old side, but one thing is for sure, he'll need to find some way of stopping Lionel Messi, who has once again broken Ronaldo's records just one day later. It has all been set up nicely for a second tie in the Allianz arena...