Bayern Munich 3-0 Barcelona: 5 hits and flops as listless Blaugrana are dumped into Europa League | UEFA Champions League 2021-22
Bayern Munich thumped Barcelona 3-0 in their final group stage match of the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League season.
Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala scored to condemn the Blaugrana to Europa League football. Xavi's side came second-best once again and never looked like getting anything from the match, let alone an unlikely victory.
It's no secret that Barcelona are no longer the European force they once were, but their performance last night was beyond abysmal. For the first time since in 20 years, the side have failed to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Barcelona will play Europa League football for the first time since it was the UEFA Cup in 2003-04 😐 https://t.co/93vUGRg98N
Bayern, meanwhile, have completed a 100% group stage record for the second time in their history and will learn their last-16 opponents in Monday's draw.
Here are the hits and flops from the match:
Hit: Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
It wasn't his most vintage performance, but Thomas Muller continued his trend of scoring against Barcelona in the Champions League. Muller got the hosts in front with a looping header from Robert Lewandowski's cross for his eighth goal against the Blaugrana, more than anyone else in the Champions League.
7️⃣ games vs. Barcelona
8️⃣ goals
Can't stop @esmuellert_ 😁
♦️ #FCBFCB 2-0 ♦️ https://t.co/HtwYv0usA5
It was also the fourth consecutive time that the Raumdeuter found the target in the fixture as Barcelona once again failed to keep him quiet. They may never want to face him again.
Flop: Gerard Pique (Barcelona)
Gerard Pique's decline from grace has been staggering. But nothing compares to his awful performance in the last match and that's saying something.
The Spaniard's marking was slack for Bayern Munich's opener with Lewandowski finding a way past him to make the cross with relative ease. Pique was also caught out of position for Musiala's goal.
As if that wasn't enough, Leroy Sane made Pique look like a training cone with the German pulling the veteran apart every time he ventured forward. Pique simply had no answer to the movement and pace of Bayern Munich's attackers and looked extremely vulnerable.