UEFA Champions League quarter-final Revisited: Barcelona 2-8 Bayern Munich

Winning 10 of the 14 matches between the two clubs, it's generally known that Bayern Munich are Barcelona's continental kryptonite.

Two of Europe's juggernauts, the dominance that Bayern have exerted in this head-to-head contest is quite impressive and nothing epitomises their stranglehold of Barcelona better than their 8-2 annihilation of the Spanish giants in the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

Hansi Flick, the architect of Barcelona's darkest evening on the European stage, now sits in the dugout for the Blaugrana having presided over their best start to a league season since 2017/18.

It's funny how football works.

After Flick reacquainted himself with his former employers, we've reflected on Bayern's demolition of Barcelona in 2020.

Barcelona v Bayern Munich teams (2020)

Barcelona XI

Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Roberto (Griezmann, 46'), Busquets (Fati, 70'), De Jong, Vidal; Messi, Suarez.

Bayern Munich XI

Neuer; Kimmich, Boateng (Sule, 76'), Alaba, Davies (Hernandez, 83'); Goretzka (Tolisso, 83'), Thiago; Gnabry (Coutinho, 76'), Muller, Perisic (Coman, 67'), Lewandowski.

How Barcelona 2-8 Bayern Munich unfolded

Thomas Muller strikes to expose Barca's frailties

The 2019/20 UEFA Champions League was unique in that from the quarter-final onwards, every fixture was a single-match eliminator, which only added to the tension in each contest.

Bayern sensed Barcelona's fragility within seconds and there was less than four minutes on the clock when Thomas Muller exposed the frailties of Quique Setién's outfit to full effect.

Making a late advance towards the penalty area, he exchanged a one-two with Robert Lewandowski before firing first-time beyond Marc-André ter Stegen.

Given Barcelona's forward pairing consisted of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, a response was inevitable. Setien's altered 4-4-2 formation briefly bewildered their opponents and the La Liga side breached Bayern's high line with a searching pass from Clement Lenglet, who picked out the arching run of Jordi Alba.

Alba placed his cross in an awkward position and David Alaba, eager to intervene, sliced the ball into his own net. Parity had been restored inside three minutes and a breathtakingly frenetic start was a mere indicator of what was to follow.

Relentless nine minutes puts Bayern out of sight

Barcelona were in the ascendancy after the goal and Suarez spurned a gilt-edged opportunity before Messi struck the woodwork with an inviting cross that grazed the head of Sergio Busquets on the way through.

However, a careless error from Sergi Roberto relinquished Barcelona's grip of the contest. The midfielder dithered with possession deep in his own half, enabling Serge Gnabry to pounce and he slipped in Ivan Perisic who fired a thunderous effort that Ter Stegen was unable to stop.

Barcelona's balloon had been popped.

Gnabry was next to get in on the act, wheeling behind Lenglet to collect a luscious Leon Goretzka dinked pass before firing in. Barca were the architects of their own downfall, needlessly conceding possession in dangerous areas and manufacturing Bayern's chances for them.

They were punished again just after the half hour mark when Muller marauded into the penalty area and poked Joshua Kimmich's cross in at the near post to give Bayern an unassailable lead.

Players to have played for both Barcelona and Bayern Munich

An unthinkable comeba... never mind

Barcelona's desperation to haul themselves back into the contest saw them commit more numbers forward in the second half and Bayern were revelling in the space they'd been afforded. creating a glut of chances to test the Barca rearguard.

Suarez duly reminded the Bavarian outfit that they could ill-afford to take their foot off the gas. The forward cunningly deceived Jerome Boateng, jinking from his right onto his left foot and finishing beyond Manuel Neuer.

Were we about to witness another spectacular Barcelona comeback? The answer was provided six minutes later and Suarez's goal was nothing but a consolation.

Alphonso Davies escaped two markers, danced a merry jig with Semedo and burst beyond the full-back before hurtling along the byline. The opposition defence were static when Davies played the ball across to Kimmich, who ensured there was no way back for Barcelona.

Ruthless Bayern spare no blushes

The tie all but over, the match evolved into a procession of Bayern attacks.

Barcelona attempted to limit the damage but their resolve eventually caved. To add insult to injury, the individual who inflicted further misery was the player they'd splashed a world record £142million to purchase two years prior.

Philippe Coutinho endeavoured into the Barcelona penalty area and against his parent club, produced the cross which Lewandowski nodded home at the back post.

There were muted celebrations from Coutinho but his affiliation with the Blaugrana did not prevent him from compounding their woes. Three minutes later, the Brazilian added his name to the scoresheet, applying the finishing touch to an incisive Bayern counter attack.

His contributions for the night didn't end there, with Coutinho scoring a second and Bayern's eighth with a minute of normal time to spare.

Barcelona had been ruthlessly dismantled on a humbling night in the Portuguese capital and the repercussions of such a seismic result were significant.

For Bayern, it marked a momentous step on their path to the treble. For Barcelona, it resulted in Setien's sacking, Messi formally requesting to leave and the end of Josep Maria Bartomeu’s presidency being escalated.

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