Bayern too good for Barcelona
Thomas Müller scored a goal and Robert Lewandowski added two more to help Bayern Munich deal Barcelona their first loss of the post-Lionel Messi era on Tuesday in a 3-0 victory at Camp Nou in their Champions League opener.
Müller’s 34th-minute strike took his career tally to seven goals against Barcelona, including the two he netted in the 8-2 shellacking Bayern dealt Barcelona the last time they met in August 2020.
Without Messi to rely on as they had for years, Barcelona were running scared from the start as they focused on protecting themselves from another embarrassing defeat.
The final score hid the total dominance of the Bundesliga powerhouse. Julian Nagelsmann’s team turned the once great attacking juggernaut of Barcelona into a jittery bunch hunkered down in their own area.
Lewandowski turned Bayern’s complete control into goals in the 56th and 85th minutes, both times putting in rebounds from shots that came off the post to the striker.
Even the fans back at Camp Nou, which was at 40 per cent capacity, for the first time in the Champions League since the start of the pandemic, could not muster a better showing from the home squad.
Barcelona had two wins and a draw in their three previous matches, all in the Spanish league, that they had played this season after their wretched finances had kept them from resigning Messi. Other results: Sevilla 1 Salzburg 1; Chelsea 1 Zenit 0; Dynamo Kyiv 0 Benfica 0; Lille 0 Wolfsburg 0; Malmo 0 Juventus 3; Villareal 2 Atalanta 2.