Here’s how far Barcelona has sunk: A lot of people predicted that the Blaugrana would lose their opening Champions League match to Bayern Munich. And as it turned out, it did. Barcelona was beaten 3-0 by Robert Lewandowski (2) and Thomas Muller (1), who both scored twice.
Muller has more UEFA Champions League goals versus Barcelona than any other player in history, and he gave Germany the lead with a deflected strike in the 34th minute. Barcelona’s suffering was compounded in the second half when Lewandowski scored twice off the rebound of teammates’ strikes that had hit the post.
Barcelona had only one real chance to score, and it came through defender Ronald Araujo’s header from a set-piece.
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman brought on a slew of teenage players in the second half, but his team was plainly outclassed.
After the game, Barcelona’s Gerard Pique told CBS that it was a “difficult result” playing at home. “It’s true that Bayern Munich is an experienced club with fantastic players who have played together for a long time. After they scored on a rebound – some terrible luck on our part — they added a cruel second goal. After all, was said and done, we played with four or five 18-year-olds, and I thought they did fantastically. We must make an investment in them.
Barcelona; once a force to be reckoned with, faces an uphill battle to make it out of Group E;which also includes Dynamo Kiev and Benfica.
When it became clear that Lionel Messi would not be returning; Koeman told fans that the season would be difficult because of the club’s failure to resign him. Three key attackers were also ruled out for the matchday squad owing to injuries.
Pique continued; “It’s true it’s not the best period since I’ve been here.” “But I believe we will mature, improve, and fight for the titles by the end of the year. Ansu [Fati], Ousmane [Dembele], and [Sergio] Kun Aguero are among the injured players who I believe can contribute significantly to our cause. And we need to keep winning till they return because I believe they will be of great assistance to us.”