How Bayern Munich managed that 4-0 devastation of Barcelona?

Jupp Heynckes noted down the defensive liabilities of Barcelona, knew where they are weak and hit them as hard as possible. This semi-final tie looks all but done, and lets have a look at how Bayern Munich scored 4 past Barcelona without conceding any. Jupp Heynckes, take a bow sir! take a bow!

Starting with some quotes from the Bayern Munich after the game, here is what he said:

“You have to analyse the team, how they will play, how the players move, where do they run to, how do they play in attack,’’ said Heynckes. “I did that. I analysed that. I had a PowerPoint presentation so I could see all the runs Barcelona do. Defensively we worked very hard and Barcelona couldn’t do anything, they had one-and-a-half chances. You have to know the opponent and we did.

“What the boys did on the pitch, and the tactical way they played was fantastic. We played a fantastic game. The decisive factor was the organisation of the team, defending intelligently, every player was really happy to stay back and be good.

“We have a lot of creativity, quality and class when we are going forward. We have the space and use it and can beat any opponent.

“We tried to neutralise Messi and we did a great job in that. But Barcelona is not just Messi, they have Xavi and [Andrés] Iniesta and other very good players. But we dominated.

“We have been playing at a very high level in the German Cup, the Bundesliga and in the Champions League so it was no surprise to me that we played well. If you win 4-0 at home to Barcelona it’s fantastic.’’

So, exactly what did Heynckes saw and analyzed, and where is that Powerpoint presentation, put it on the transfer list and it would be the most expensive sale of the summer transfer window. I am no Heynckes but will still try to look for answers! 

1- Barcelona's lack of aerial threat; defensively

If you take the lion-hearted Carles Puyol out of the Barcelona side, there is no defender left who will be willing to break own's limb for the sake of the team, not even Gerard Pique. Jupp Heynckes saw that and physicality was the first thing on the to-do list. Physical they were as two goals from corners testify, but not only were they physically aggressive in the attacking third, they were equally if not more physically charged in the defensive area where they were compact and pressed Barcelona so impressively that even Barcelona looked stunned and clueless.

2- Stop Messi; Stop Barcelona

I did write something about Barca being over reliant on Messi, well, basically the whole world was thinking likewise and it came to the fore so clearly in this game that now it is an embraced fact that if you stop Lionel Messi, Barca becomes half of the team it is. With the likes of Xavi and Iniesta not playing week in week out in combination, their understanding with the rest of the players seem a bit off. Alexis Sanchez will definitely be sold and Pedro is'nt having the best of seasons this term.

3- Corners

It seemed like Bayern were looking to get as many corners as possible in the game. Winning 8 corners in the first-half and winning a further 3 in the second-half. They dominated them physically and that had an effect on them mentally. Barca started to look out of thoughts while Bayern knew exactly what they were doing.

4- Not parking the bus; Lightening fast Counter-Attacks

It was not a "park the bus" performance by Bayern, far from it, though the possession stats are naturally tilted towards Barcelona, Bayern played a compact defensive game and used their quickies in Robben and Ribery to accelerate and hit Barcelona on the counter-attack. The positioning issues that surround Dani Alves made him have a torrid time against the advancing and rapid Bayern counters, and Jordi Alba was also taken to the fore by the veteran wingers.

5- Clear intent

What Bayern did was clear; so clear in their heads right from the first whistle, and they executed it absolutely perfectly. On the other hand, it was the same old tiki-taka from Barcelona but they had nothing in reserve; absolutely nothing. Even brinigin on David Villa was not going to change anything as Villa has transformed more into a wing/forward rather than an out an out Center Forward. Thomas Muller and Mario Gomez worked extremely well with each other and deservingly Muller was voted man of the match.

Some may call it an end for passing football, some may call it thug tactics, but football is a physical game, and when there is physicality involved there are bound to be some skirmishes; their is only one winner in a skirmish, who has the desire to win! hope for a fantastic return leg at the Camp Nou.