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MOTD: Barcelona 3-0 Bayern Munich

By on May 6, 2015

“There is not a system or coach to stop talent of Messi’s magnitude.  He is too good,” Pep Guardiola said.  Oh, how right he was.

All tactics, injuries, and referee calls (lack thereof) aside, Messi could not be stopped.  Guardiola could spend an eternity running through every formation in the book, but tonight, Messi could not be stopped.  Frank Ribery, Arjen Robben, David Alaba, and Holger Badstuber could all return from injury, but would still struggle to have a combined impact equal to Messi alone.   

The storyline wrote itself.  Guardiola started with a brash, perhaps arrogant back three and attempted to take the game to Barcelona, making it it all too easy for Messi.  The forward laid it off for Suarez to test Manuel Meuer six minutes in, before flicking Suarez in on goal with a header five minutes later.  The Uruguayan was one-on-one with Neuer, and it took a relatively poor finish combined with a fantastic kick save for the scoreline to stay level.  Bayern were toeing a dangerous line and Neymar had his six yard tap-in from Suarez’s cut back blocked off the line.  

Just in time, it seemed, Guardiola fixed his mistake relatively quickly (some supporters claimed it was a planned move, such the fluidity of the switch), converting to a back four.  The move put Bayern back on level terms with Barcelona, and twenty-one players played an intense, frenetic half.  And then there was Messi, a bastion of composure amid a field of swirling colors.  At times, his ease almost bordered on nonchalance.  

But don’t be fooled; his change of pace is so astonishing it can catch even the best off their guard.  That was the case in the twenty-first minute, when Messi suddenly burst alive, jinxed past four players, cut back and curled a shot wide, with Neuer scrambling.  Suarez then headed Rakitic’s corner over, although Bayern too came agonizingly close when Robert Lewandowski found himself in behind Barca’s defense, only for Thomas Muller’s cross to be inches away from Lewandowski’s boot, then Thiago Alcantara at the far post.

Thirty-five minutes in, Neuer blocked Messi’s twenty-five yard free-kick, and soon afterwards the German produced a fantastic kick-save to deny Dani Alves’ poked volley from Andres Iniesta’s brilliant chip.

The second half began as the first ended: quick, zipping football, at times a little scrappy.  Neuer saved Messi’s effort from the edge of the box, and was out quickly to deny Neymar as well.  Sixty-three minutes in Ivan Rakitic found Neymar on the left side of the box, but the Brazilian couldn’t get around his effort and saw it blaze high and wide of the target.  

Yet then, Messi again came up big.  After cushioning the ball across his body on the edge of the box, it took not seconds for him to find the back of the net, with Neuer caught out at his near post.  Three minutes later, the little genius struck again.  Messi received the ball on the edge of the box, and with a shimmy of the hips blew past Jerome Boateng, who fell flat on his backside.  One could see Messi’s pupils dilate as he then chipped Neuer with a neat far post finish.  Just like that, the game was over; but for good measure, Messi slipped Neymar through on goal for a third on a late counter-attack.  Magisterial.

Man of the Match: Lionel Messi

Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.