The final whistle sounded and the Barcelona players accepted the defeat without too many regrets, perhaps a Busquets who was petrified on the grass to raise his head and look askance at the video scoreboard, also to await the parade of rivals who extended their hands. . Among them Alphonso Davies, who went from the bench to ask him to exchange shirts. The Barça captain accepted – although he invited him to do it in the dressing room because for something he was the only Barça player who played without long sleeves or thermal shirt – still motionless and only awakened when Neuer hugged him and the rest of his teammates had already paraded towards him. changing room tunnel. Long faces and little more to say in the face of Bayern’s superiority. Xavi, however, showed an angry nose. “I am pissed off because it is our reality and it pisses me off a lot. I am a culé of feeling and Barça does not deserve to play in the Europa League, but to compete to win the Champions League ”.
3
Neuer, Alphonso Davies (Omar Richards, min. 70), Dayotchanculle Upamecano, Niklas Süle (Nianzou Tanguy Kouassi, min. 77), Benjamin Pavard, Tolisso (Marc Roca, min. 59), Müller, Sane, Kingsley Coman (Bouna Sarr , min. 70), Jamal Musiala and Lewandowski (Malik Tillman, min. 76)
0
Ter Stegen, Ronald Araújo, Clement Lenglet, Piqué, Alba (Óscar Mingueza, min. 30), Busquets, Pablo Páez Gavira (Yusuf Demir, min. 85), Frenkie De Jong (Ricard Puig, min. 72), Depay, Ousmane Dembélé (Coutinho, min. 72) and Sergiño Dest (Nico González, min. 45)
Goals 1-0 min. 33: Müller. 2-0 min. 42: Heal. 3-0 min. 61: Jamal Musiala.
Referee Ovidiu Hategan
Yellow cards Busquets (min. 2), Ronald Araújo (min. 15) and Omar Richards (min. 81)
But there was little confidence in the Barça expedition before the duel. In the middle of a heavy snowfall, Laporta attended the cloud of journalists who waited outside the restaurant where the usual meal between the directors was held before the meeting. “In these games it is in which pride must be shown”, said the Barça president, at the same time that he placed the successes in the medium term; “we must have faith”. But neither he – who went to put some candles in the Munich cathedral – did not have it, nor did Xavi want to accept it, who had escaped before the stake: “We depend on us. But you have to be patient because this doesn’t happen overnight ”. In the last throes of the game and when Sané missed the fourth goal with an unsuccessful vaseline, Xavi gave his arm to twist because he did not even move from the area. I was defeated.
“Bayern have been better, superior,” Xavi resolved with the face of few friends. “We have tried, but they have had more of the ball and they have subdued us. Normally, it is the other way around because we tend to be the dominators, but this is the harsh reality “, he conceded with a speech that recalled the” this is what there is “that Koeman intoned when the team lost. But Xavi is not the Dutchman because since he arrived he has asked the team for more. “I have already told you that a new stage is already beginning, that we must demand more of ourselves and that this must be a turning point because we have not competed. Barça cannot afford this situation. We are going to face it and change it from now on. To work hard to take Barça where it deserves ”.
Busquets expressed himself in the same vein: “We leave with very bad feelings and it is not what we wanted. It is not what the club or the fans deserve. But this is the reality, that we are going to the Europa League, that we are in a tough, difficult and painful situation. But to get here many things have been done wrong, such as the club’s situation, which the players have lacked at times … ”. Especially this season, as he admitted: “We have gotten ourselves into this mess. There is frustration and it hurts pride, but in part we have earned it on the field. We had it in our hands, we have not done things well ”. This is how Araujo saw it: “It is a broad result that could have been more so because they had opportunities to do so.” Although Laporta, condescending, said: “I think the footballers have done everything they could and more against a rival like Bayern.”
Xavi did not see it the same. “I have seen a very harsh reality that I have already experienced as a player a few times. What I can say is that we do not have to conform, but to rebel against reality. It is difficult to digest it, but it is what there is and you have to do it from now on ”. And he added: “We lack many things, we must be honest no matter how hard it is to accept it. We will work hard and with great demand so that this does not happen again. Yes, there are many things that have led us to this situation, but I feel responsible because now I am the coach ”. Busquets took the floor: “If you get it right in sports and we do things well, Barça will win back to the Champions League. This is a step back to give us momentum. You also have to be in the bad times and we are going to give it as the fans will do, which is really culé ”.
This Barça has only scored two goals in Europe, so Xavi did not leave his speech: “We have not beaten Benfica or competed against Bayern. We have the Europa League and we must face it. We have to recover the best times for Barcelona ”.
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