5 Barcelona players who underperformed against Bayern Munich | UEFA Champions League 2021-22
Hoping for a miracle, Xavi’s struggling Barcelona side made the trip to Bayern Munich for their final UEFA Champions League Group E fixture on Wednesday night. Following their goalless draw with Benfica on matchday five, the Catalan giants needed a win in Germany to progress to the Round of 16.
Unfortunately, the might of the hosts was simply too much for Barcelona to handle. Thanks to goals from Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala, Bayern Munich inflicted a 3-0 defeat upon the Camp Nou outfit, knocking them out of the Champions League.
Having endured a 3-0 defeat in the reverse fixture, Barcelona were taking a cautious approach at the Allianz Arena on matchday six. Their passes were calculated and they paid special attention to Bayern Munich’s high-flying forward Robert Lewandowski. Xavi’s tactics worked well until the first half an hour, but the system came crashing down after Jordi Alba’s 31st-minute substitution.
With Barcelona’s system disrupted, Muller found himself in a bit of space and converted from Lewandowski’s cross. Nine minutes later, Sane joined the party with a long-range effort before Musiala sealed Barcelona’s fate with a neat tap-in in the second half.
Benfica’s 2-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv saw them finish with eight points from six games. The Blaugrana’s defeat, on the other hand, saw them end their UEFA Champions League campaign with seven points on the board.
Here are the five Barcelona players who underperformed as Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2003-04.
#5 Frenkie de Jong
Barcelona’s most expensive central midfielder, Frenkie de Jong, was all over the place against Bayern Munich. He failed to take advantage of Bayern’s relatively 'weaker' midfield and got hurried out of possession time and again.
I have a genuine question. Has De Jong performed in even a single big game ever since he joined Barcelona in 2019? Barça fans were quick to label Griezmann, Dembele and Coutinho as flops but why is De Jong not called a flop yet? https://t.co/0dfJlwCbyx
The former Ajax midfielder made three key passes going forward, but his offensive contribution was not enough to neutralize his overall poor midfield play.
De Jong lost possession eight times, was dribbled past twice and made only one clearance. All in all, it was yet another underwhelming night for the Dutchman.
#4 Gerard Pique
Barcelona’s most experienced defender, Gerard Pique, had the responsibility of keeping Robert Lewandowski quiet.
To the Spaniard’s credit, he did keep the Poland hitman from scoring his 10th goal in the Champions League group stage this season, but it wasn’t enough.
Look at Pique 😭 he always had best view of goals
https://t.co/2spvqotVYx
Lewandowski still got the better of him in the 34th minute inside the Barcelona box before setting up Thomas Muller’s goal. More importantly, Pique couldn’t uplift his side when they found themselves two goals down before half-time.
A player of his experience is expected to bring more to the table than sub-par defending skills.