Lisbon (AFP)
The players themselves have no explanation! Bayern's unimaginable 8-2 victory on Friday against Barcelona is irrational, but the feat will further strengthen the confidence of the German "Rekordmeister", who can now hardly be imagined defeated in the 2020 Champions League.
Lyon or Manchester, the next opponent of the Bavarians in the semi-final will necessarily have been impressed. "Lionel Messi's team sank as one of Bayern's victims in the Bundesliga," German football magazine Kicker quipped on Saturday.
"The match recalled the historic 7-1 of Belo Horizonte", when Germany humiliated Brazil in the semifinals of the World Cup-2014, adds the newspaper.
The analogy is interesting, especially since three of the Barcelona winners had played at Belo Horizonte: Manuel Neuer, Jérôme Boateng and Thomas Müller! And Bayern coach Hansi Flick was on the bench as Joachim Löw's assistant.
After the match, Flick gave one of the keys to Bayern domination: "My team has never let go, at the moment it's our mentality, our trademark," he said.
A "fighting spirit" which allowed Munich to sweep everything away in Germany to win the cup-championship double, then to eliminate Chelsea in the round of 16 with a scathing 7-1 over all two matches (3-0 , 4-1).
- "Joy of playing" -
Faced with these fighters, Barcelona let themselves be trampled. "The score is difficult to explain," admitted Joshua Kimmich, scorer of the fifth goal, "but we played from the first minute with incredible concentration."
"From the first seconds we had total control of the duels", added Leon Goretzka. After Barcelona equalized, we did not let ourselves be disturbed and we continued the same. Our laundry was terrible ".
And what about the substitutes, who did not manage the advance, but on the contrary maintained the tempo: "The best thing in fact was to see that the players left the bench had the same impact, the same joy of playing and the same state of mind "as the holders, enthused Thomas Müller, designated man of the match.
Philippe Coutinho (on loan from Barcelona) had two goals and an assist after coming in in the 75th minute. Lucas Hernandez, deprived of playing time this season, offered him his second goal.
This collective euphoria gives incredible confidence to the youngest. The best example of this is Alphonso Davies, 19, who went from a young hopeful to a star in one season.
His dazzling defensive slalom in the 63rd minute, to give Kimmich a ready goal, is part of the footage. “Unbelievable,” Kimmich breathed, “I was almost ashamed to celebrate that goal, because obviously it's 99% his. I just had to push the ball deep. World class!”
This warrior mind, Leon Goretzka expressed it again in his own way, when asked if seeing Messi so humiliated hadn't hurt him a bit. "No. It even made me a little happy," he said, smiling.
- Well-managed calendar -
Cold, the experts will also note that, of all the teams engaged in Lisbon, the Germans (Bayern and Leipzig) are the only ones to have finished their national championship at the end of June. The French have not played since March, the others on the contrary battled until the end of July.
After the German Cup final won on July 4, Hansi Flick granted his men a dozen days of vacation, before launching a specific preparation for the Champions League.
His experience of eight years in the national team allows him to perfectly master this rise in power before a big tournament. His experience was invaluable: the players recovered well, without losing the pace.
Lyon, which has only played two official matches since March, and Manchester City, who on the contrary finished the English season with a cannonball, were not so lucky. Whoever Bayern's next opponent is, he will need to tap into all his resources so as not to end up as a victim like Barcelona.
© 2020 AFP