The second-leg UEFA semifinal between Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona was fiercely fought. The visitors from Barcelona suffered an early set-back, when Bayern made a storming start and took the lead in the seventh minute by converting a corner. But within 8 minutes from that goal and just as celebrations still continued in some corners of Munich’s Football Arena, Neymar brought the equalizer. In the 29th minute, when the Brazilian came up with another goal, he sent Munich spectators into hushed silence. With the 0-3 deficit weighing on their minds, one more goal meant Bayern needed 5 goals in the remaining time to become eligible to play the final in Berlin on June 6. In the 59th minute, cheer returned in the arena, when Robert Lewandowski found the equalizer for the home team and Bayern sailed into the lead yet again in the 74th minute with a Thomas Muller curler finding its mark. However, the fight continued until 90 + 2 minutes without any more goals coming. Bayern were disappointed despite winning at 3-2 and halting Barcelona’s 18-game unbeaten streak in all competitions. Messi and his men will now go to Berlin to play for UEFA championship game with the winner between Real Madrid and Juventus, whose intriguing clash is due on Wednesday night at Santiago Bernabeu.
After conceding three goals in the last 14 minutes at Camp Nou last week, Bayern Munich played attacking football from kick-off on Tuesday night at their home turf. However, they overcame an early scare in the 5th minute, when Dani Alves sent a floating pass to the perfectly positioned Ivan Rakitic. But the Croatian’s attempt was pushed away to safety by Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Two minutes later, it was Bayern’s turn, when they earned a corner. From the right, Xabi Alonso floated a ball that found Medhi Benatia completely unmarked. The Moroccan’s header was aimed at the bottom corner, from where the Barca goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen failed to clear it. It was a great start for Bayern and they brought the game came alive by some more dangerous moves towards the Barca goal. In the 13th minute, Bastian Schweinsteiger had a decent sight from just outside the box but his strike swerved away from the goal. In the meanwhile, Barcelona also launched attacking moves and they found the equalizer in the 15th minutes, when Lionel Messi slid a pass behind Bayern defense and Luis Suarez immediately sent a cross to Neymar, who tapped the ball inside. In the 19th minute, Bayern came close to taking a lead over FCB for the second time but Muller’s header from a cross by Philipp Lahm was foiled by Barcelona goalkeeper. Josep Guardolia was seen cursing his luck soon as Neymar produced another goal in the 29th minute to switch the lead on FCB’s side. This goal came from a counter-attacking maneuver as a quick ball was headed by Messi towards Suraez and yet again the Uruguayan found Neymar in the goal area. The Brazilian took Suarez’s ball on his chest before drilling it through to Neuer’s near post.
Disappointment gripped the arena and it reflected in the efforts of Bayern players for a while. Halftime came and passed and the teams kept trading attacks on each other’s goal without any difference to Barca’s 2-1 lead. Fortune fluctuated in 59th minute, when Robert Lewandowski latched on to a pass from Schweinsteiger and skillfully dodged Javier Mascherano to create space for himself before shooting perfectly into the bottom right corner. With scores level at 2-2, Bayern needed four more goals in the remaining time. They could only score just one more in the 74th minute, when Schweinsteiger sent a ball to Thomas Muller on the edge of the box and the German’s curling drive left no chance for the Barca goalkeeper. Nothing happened in the remaining 16 + 2 minutes and although the German champions emerged victorious, they missed Berlin by plenty of goals.
