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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.
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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.
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.
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.
#3 Sergio Busquets
Last night, Barcelona defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets made his 650th appearance for the club. The 33-year-old has won it all for Barcelona and was hoping to mark his 650th appearance in the grandest possible way.
Beating Bayern Munich in their own backyard was always going to be difficult, but Busquets and Barcelona were optimistic of their chances. Unfortunately, thanks to the comedy of errors that unfolded at the Allianz Arena, the Catalan giants were never going to come back with maximum points.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s poor distribution forced Busquets to foul Lewandowski and pick up his first yellow card after three minutes of play. And things only got worse for the Spaniard. He was pressed out of possession time and again by Bayern Munich midfielders and failed to keep up with them.
Busquets was dribbled past five times, only won three of his 12 duels, and provided zero key passes, summing up a horrible night for him.
#2 Oscar Mingueza
Barcelona defender Oscar Mingueza is capable of playing in all defensive positions. So when Jordi Alba frustratingly left the field with a hamstring issue, Xavi asked his versatile defender to play as a left-back. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the worst substitutions for Barcelona this season.
Mingueza was taken apart by Bayern Munich players, especially Kingsley Coman. The Frenchman’s quick feet and acceleration left Mingueza for dead, time and again, allowing Bayern to storm down the right flank.
Mingueza’s distribution was wayward, was dribbled past five times, lost possession on eight occasions, and provided practically nothing going forward. An utterly disappointing performance from the La Masia graduate.
#1 Marc-Andre ter Stegen
A couple of seasons back, Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen used to be one of the top shot-stoppers in Europe. He had the audacity to stop pretty much everything that came his way and played a key role in Barcelona’s La Liga triumph in 2018-19.
Over the last two seasons, the German has lost the spark that made him a brick wall in front of goal. He has been reduced to a regular, run-of-the-mill goalkeeper, who is not good enough for top-level football.
Against Bayern Munich, Ter Stegen endured another disappointing night, failing to put up a fight against Bayern’s spirited goalscorers. In the 34th minute, the custodian got his positioning wrong for Muller’s opener. He failed to track the movement of the ball and left the far post unguarded.
However, his biggest blunder came just before half-time, when he completely misjudged the curve of Sane’s long-range beamer.
The Barcelona keeper even failed to make contact with the German’s shot, practically handing Bayern Munich their second goal.
