Wednesday, 13 May 2015

UCL: Bayern Munich 3-2 Barcelona (agg 3-5): Messi & Co reach final despite defeat


Neymar's first half double proved crucial for the visitors as they saw off the challenge of Pep Guardiola's side

A Neymar double helped Barcelona progress to their first Champions League final since 2011 despite a 3-2 second-leg semi-final defeat to Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

A Lionel Messi double and Neymar's strike at Camp Nou last Wednesday had given the Liga leaders a 3-0 lead after the first encounter and, despite a spirited display, Bayern were unable to complete a remarkable fightback in the return leg.

Mehdi Benatia's early header gave Bayern hope, but Pep Guardiola described his former club Barca as the best counter-attacking team in the world ahead of the game and they lived up to that billing at the Allianz Arena.

Luis Suarez laid on two goals for Neymar - who now has 37 for the season and had scored in his last seven matches - in the first half and, although Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller gave the Bundesliga champions victory on the night, the job had been done by Barca in the first leg.

It was Barca's first defeat since February and they had not conceded for over 10 hours prior to Tuesday's game, but they remain on course for a famous treble in Luis Enrique's first season in charge, while Bayern have crashed out in the semi-finals two years running under Guardiola.

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  1. Bayern Munich vs Barcelona 3:2 2015 All 




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