It had been an almost too beautiful October day in Barcelona. The Catalan sun was shining from a bright blue sky, white boats rocked comfortably in the calm waters of the ‘Port Olímpic’, the Olympic harbour, and quite a few Spaniards took advantage of the 20-degree-plus temperatures to enjoy a late sunbathe with their families along the kilometre-long sandy beach. Meanwhile, a good 1,500 kilometres further east, at home in Munich, a cool drizzle fell from the grey sky.
FC Bayern Munich had travelled to Catalonia as FC Barcelona’s big bogey team. Having won the last six meetings between the teams by a crushing aggregate score of 22-4, they were downright feared. “We came here to win,” said Thomas Müller 90 minutes later. His coach Vincent Kompany also recalled at the pre-match press conference ahead of the historic fixture on Matchday 3: “Barcelona are still an absolute top team in Europe, but it’s certainly no surprise that we want to win and show our best face.” That didn’t happen. With a 4-1 defeat, Bayern experienced a gloomy night in front of the 50,312 spectators at the 1992 Olympic Stadium high up in the mountains above Barcelona. When the sun did shine, it was only for the hosts.
"A bit odd"
The final score, despite being so clear-cut, was “a little odd”, as Müller described. First, there was the dramatic composition of the match itself. The first goal after less than 60 seconds, then two goals from Bayern goal-getter Harry Kane, only one of which counted for the equaliser, followed by a period in which, as Barcelona coach Hansi Flick admitted, his side “had to suffer”. With dominant, confidence and almost oppressive pressing, Bayern had Barça on the back foot for half an hour. But they lacked patience, as not only Kane found. “We obviously started badly,” analysed Joshua Kimmich, “but then had full control after 10 minutes and the equaliser.” And Kompany added: “I had the feeling for around 30 minutes that we could win it.” But after two sucker punches and avoidable goals, it wasn’t 2-1 to the bogey team from Munich but 3-1 to Barcelona.
Confusing stats
“Barcelona play high-risk football, as do we - it’s clear that these things can happen," highlighted captain Manuel Neuer. "Giving away possession and balls in behind our back line can hurt us." As well as the drama, the stats don't reflect a clear 4-1 loss either. After the early opening goal, Bayern were superior in almost every column of the match statistics, from tackles won to number and quality of passes, crosses, corners, attempts and possession. And yet at half-time, the most important stat, the scoreline, stood at 3-1 – Müller's "a little odd" summed it up!
However, the contest changed after the restart. "After conceding the early goal, we played well for 30 minutes and deserved our equaliser. After that, we capitulated," commented board member for sport Max Eberl. "The goal for 3-1 was the killer blow."
For Neuer, Bayern lacked "the aggression that you need", while for Kimmich their play "wasn't tidy or controlled" enough. Bayern's pressing was no longer as forceful, no longer as convincing – and the fear of Bayern ebbed away with each passing minute at the Olympic Stadium. To top it all off, another counter-attack, well worked by the impressive Barça attack, resulted in it being 4-1.
More energy, more dynamism
Coach Kompany reacted with a quadruple substitution to bring "energy and a different dynamic" into the game. But nothing more than a few promising attacking moves materialised against the new-found confidence of Barcelona.
"After a defeat like this, we should learn from it quickly rather than looking for excuses, so that we can produce a better performance against Bochum on Sunday," stated Kompany after full time. Eberl had a similar view: "We have to learn from the defeat. We win together, we lose together." CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen also agreed: "We're FC Bayern and FC Bayern have always learned the right lessons from these moments." That means the sun should shine again for Bayern in Bochum on Sunday.
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