When the low point was almost reached, Thomas Müller and Sergio Busquets stood in the stadium in Munich and discussed - and you immediately had to think of the high points.

The German and the Spaniard pushed each other to their limits in spectacular games with their teams, FC Bayern and FC Barcelona.

You set standards.

They fascinated fans.

They won the Champions League, the highest quality competition in world football.

Christopher Meltzer

Sports correspondent in Munich.

  • Follow I follow

Now they were standing in an empty stadium discussing a foul that didn't matter. Because if you looked up at the result on the display board and then down at Müller and Busquets, you saw two men with a great past, but only one man with a great present.

On Wednesday evening the great Thomas Müller and the great FC Bayern won 3-0 in the Champions League.

In the first season under coach Julian Nagelsmann you won six games in six preliminary rounds.

And although that is quite remarkable, one despises the historical moment when one tells this story from their point of view.

No, you have to write: The great Sergio Busquets and the great FC Barcelona lost that evening.

Not just a game, not just a place in the round of 16, but also the last spark of fascination that flew around this team.

"We feel powerless"

"Today is a sad day," said Xavi, who as a player helped create the enchantment of Barcelona in Barça but who as coach could not stop the disenchantment of Barça in Barcelona.

He replaced the overwhelmed Ronald Koeman a month ago and should lead the club into the knockout phase of the premier class.

He failed because Barcelona lost in Munich and Benfica Lisbon won over Kiev.

When the Catalans left the Champions League for the last time in the preliminary round, Angela Merkel was not yet Chancellor.

"There are many circumstances that have brought us to this point," said Xavi - and then added a sentence that he never had to utter as a player: "We feel powerless."

A low point.

One who indicated himself in the match in Munich in the third minute when Busquets received a yellow card for a foul.

A foul by Barça?

A foul by Busquets?

That almost never happened before, when coach Pep Guardiola was in command.

He performed the beautiful game with Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and also Busquets.

And now maybe from the distant Manchester seen how Thomas Müller (34th minute), Leroy Sané (43rd) and Jamal Musiala (62nd) presented his old club with their goals.

From the perspective of the pep romantics, it must be hard to bear the way Barcelona defend against the ball, and most importantly, play with the ball.

Without joke and without force.

You could also say: boring.

This is a dirty word in the world of Barça. But of course there are factors that can explain the boredom. The club has a debt of 1.35 billion euros. “We all know about the economic situation of FC Barcelona,” said Müller in the “DAZN” interview, “but I didn't see it coming that they would perish in this group in this way. It's a little bit the intensity as I feel like they can't go that intensity. They are great in terms of play and tactics, but they cannot keep up with the intensity of top-class football at the moment. "

You not only saw the difference between Bayern and Barcelona, ​​you heard it too.

On that place.

And in the press conference.

When Xavi had answered the most urgent questions, Julian Nagelsmann sat down on the chair and noted that his players had "held the ball" in between times "too long".

What a contrast!

He said before the draw for the round of 16 pairings this Friday: "We want to win the Champions League."

And what does FC Barcelona want?

"Today starts a new stage," said Xavi.

“We want to get Barcelona back to where it belongs.” He means: the knockout round of the Champions League.

In the new year, however, they have to compete in a league lower for the time being: in the Europa League.