DAVIES SHINES IN HISTORIC CHAMPIONS WIN FOR BAYERN
Edmonton product upstages Messi as German champs rout Barcelona FC
If Alphonso Davies was excited to play against his idol Lionel Messi in a UEFA Champions League game Friday, imagine how he feels after taking the Argentine legend to school in a lopsided victory.
Davies, an Edmonton product, ran circles over Messi and Barcelona FC with his Bayern Munich teammates in an 8-2 quarter-final victory at the Benfica Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, to earn a placed in the Champions League semifinal.
The 19-year-old phenom upstaged Messi with an outstanding solo run midway through the second half to set up Bayern’s fifth goal when it looked as though Barcelona might stage a comeback.
Shortly after Uruguayan Luis Suarez scored to make it 4-2, Davies collected a loose ball along the left sideline, 10 yards into Barcelona territory. He shielded off and then spun away from Messi, avoided a sliding tackle from Chilean Artudo Vidal, and set off on a run down the left side where Barcelona defender Nelson Semedo of Portugal stepped up to cut him off.
Davies stopped, then skipped past Semedo, ran down toward the end line and froze two more Barcelona defenders before sliding the ball out front for teammate Joshua Kimmich to tap in.
The goal killed off any hope of a comeback for Barcelona, which conceded eight goals for the first time since 1946.
Thomas Muller and Philippe Coutinho scored twice, Ivan Perisic, Serge Gnabry, and
Robert Lewandowski added the others for the German champions who move on to the semifinal against either Manchester City or Olympique Lyonnais. The English and French teams play Saturday in the last quarter-final.
RB Leipzig of Germany and Paris Saint- Germain of France have already advanced and will meet in the other semifinal.
“I think in this moment our team is in incredible shape,” Muller said.
“We worked so hard and I think with this intensity it’s tough to beat us. We had so much fun out there today and we all played together. We feel after this result and this match but we are not just here to win a quarter-final, we want to win the semifinal and are here to win a final.
“I know these tournament situations a lot and most of the time after these big wins it’s more difficult, so we have to be careful.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, play in Europe’s top club competition was halted in March and restructured when it resumed this summer. Instead of a two-leg, home and away knockout round, the quarter-finals and semifinal are one-game eliminations, as is the final. The final eight teams in the tournament are all playing in Portugal.
The semifinals will be played on Aug 18 and 19, with the final on Aug. 23 at the Benfica Stadium.
This season, Davies was named German Bundesliga rookie of the year and signed a contract extension with the club through 2025. Bayern Munich won their eighth-consecutive German league title earlier this year and are going for their first Champions League title since 2013. They have won the competition five times.
Barcelona was expected to be Bayern’s toughest opponents on their way to the title, but the Spanish giants were little match Friday. Bayern padded their lead after Davies’ setup put the game away.
Davies was substituted in the 84th minute and was credited with one attempt off target, committed one foul, was fouled four times and picked up a yellow card.
The Canadian international, who has made 17 appearances for his country and has scored five goals, proved to be a handful for Barcelona early and on one occasion was tripped up from behind by Messi, who should have been shown a yellow card for the foul. Messi helped the Canadian teenager up after the foul.
Seven minutes into the second half, Davies was given a yellow card when his hand glanced off Vidal’s head as the two were jostling for position on a ball in the air. Vidal, who played in Edmonton for Chile at the Under-20 World Cup in 2007, made the most of the challenge and stayed down, which led to Davies being booked.
Muller scored in the fourth minute to give Bayern a 1-0, lead but Barcelona tied it when David Alaba inadvertently lofted the ball into his own net trying to cut out a cross.
Messi came close to giving Barcelona the lead minutes later when his cross lofted over Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and bounced off the goalpost.
Perisic, who played in the World Cup final two years ago with Croatia, scored to make it 2-1 for Bayern and then Gnabry scored to make it 3-1. Mueller added a fourth before halftime to put Bayern firmly in control.
Suarez scored 12 minutes into the second half on a shot from the top of the penalty area, but the comeback was quashed when Davies went on his solo run to set up Kimmich five minutes later.
“This was a horrible game, an embarrassment,” said Barcelona captain Gerard Pique, who also played in Edmonton in 2007. “You can’t compete like that, you can’t leave Europe (competition) like that. This is tough and I hope something can come out of it. We have to reflect on this and we have to make changes of all types.”
With Barcelona defeated, Lewandowski added a sixth in the 82nd minute and Coutinho, who is on loan to Bayern from Barcelona scored twice inside of five minutes after coming on as a substitute.
You can’t compete like that, you can’t leave Europe (competition) like that. This is tough and I hope something can come out of it. We have to reflect on this and we have to make changes of all types.