#Title

Brutal Bavarians steamroll Barcelona en route to semifinals
highlights
‘Better than beating Brazil’
For the first time in the history of the UEFA Champions League, a club scored eight goals in a knockout match in the form of Bayern Munich as they thrashed Barcelona 8-2.
The last team to score eight or more goals in this competition were Real Madrid when they hammered FC Wacker Innsbruck 9-1 in the last 16 of 1990-91 season of the then European Cup.
Barcelona suffered defeat by a six-goal margin for the first time since April 1951 when the Catalan side were beaten 6-0 in a La Liga match by Espanyol.
The Spanish giants conceded eight goals for the first time in 74 years when they were embarrassed 8-0 by Sevilla in Copa del Rey in 1946.
German powerhouse Bayern have engraved their name in the semi-final of the Champions League for the 12th time, and they are bettered by only Real Madrid (13).
Bayern’s star striker Robert Lewandowski became the first player to put himself on the score-sheet in eight or more consecutive Champions League matches since Cristiano Ronaldo in April 2018 (11 games).
Record-breaking Thomas Mueller said Bayern Munich’s 8-2 thrashing of Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-final on Friday topped the 7-1 hammering Germany handed Brazil at the 2014 World Cup as he stole the limelight from Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi.
“When we (Germany) played against Brazil we were not as in control as we were tonight,” insisted Mueller, who also scored in the historic World Cup semifinal. “You can never completely turn Barcelona off, but we gave their midfield practically no room, we did what we wanted to do.”
The 30-year-old Mueller capped an outstanding display by passing Philipp Lahm’s record to become the German with the most Champions League appearances with 113 games.
“We need to stop talking about the record, it’s just a statistic. There were a lot of nicer things to say about the game. Our team spirit is extremely good and the main thing is we are doing what we want to do on the pitch, everyone is torturing themselves to put the work in. It was a special evening: from the result alone and the way it felt on the pitch.
“We can go to bed with a smile and enjoy the atmosphere, but we want to stay in the tournament.”
Agencies, Lisbon
German champions Bayern Munich utterly humiliated Barcelona with an extraordinary 8-2 demolition job on Friday that sent them through into the semifinals of the Champions League.
Thomas Mueller scored twice for a rampant Bayern, who led 4-1 after 31 minutes, as Lionel Messi’s team were condemned to a thrashing that felt like the end of an era for the Catalan club.
“We feel devastated, although shame is the real word I’m looking for,” said Barca defender Gerard Pique, adding that the historic defeat called for urgent changes across the club. “We need to take stock and changes are needed at the club. I’m not talking about the players or the coaching staff, but something more structural. We have to change the direction we’ve been headed in for a number of years now. We’ve hit rock bottom.”
Piqué was not alone in his take on Barça’s predicament. The Blaugrana’s major dressing-room figures are fully on board with his comments, including a suggestion that some of the team’s old guard may need to be sacrificed and fresh blood brought in.
“Nobody is untouchable. If new blood has to come and change this dynamic, I will be the first to pack up and leave,” Pique added.
The players were swift to assume their own culpability for their mauling by Bayern, acknowledging that they were outplayed and outfought, but they also believe that years of erratic off-the-field decision-making led to the humiliation. They feel they weren’t well prepared enough tactically, and were undermined by what is an unbalanced squad.
Pique and others also expect club president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, to be brave enough to do what is best for Barcelona and call elections -- which are due to take place in summer 2021 -- ahead of schedule. Spanish radio station Cadena COPE has reported that Lionel Messi has demanded that elections be called; otherwise, he will not renew his contract in 2021, his camp says.
Barca coach Quique Setien, who is unlikely to survive the inquest, called it “a tremendously painful defeat”.
Bayern coach Hansi Flick hailed an “outstanding” display from his side but stressed that they were firmly focused on the semifinal, which will be against Manchester City or Olympique Lyonnais.
Mueller added: “We had so much fun today. Of course, Barcelona are special, so we had to be even more aggressive and come back again and again. You can imagine we feel good after this match but we have to be quiet and regenerate.”
The scoreline recalled Germany’s 7-1 semifinal win over Brazil in the 2014 World Cup, a game where Flick was on the bench as the national team’s assistant coach. Now, Flick warned that his players would let their stunning win sink in for a day but if they are to win the title they still need to work hard.
“You know that I do not look back because only the here and now matters,” Flick said when asked about comparisons to Germany’s 2014 win. “Yes, we played an outstanding game and we can be happy but we all know we still have hard work to do if we are to stand in the end where we want to stand,” he added.
“We know how quickly it can happen in football. We must recharge from tomorrow for the semifinals,” Flick said.
“It is a win and we wanted to reach semifinals. OK, it is impressive, we set a small marker but the experienced players know that the next game awaits and we will need the same performance. Let it sink in, analyse and then prepare for the semifinal,” Flick said.
What they said
“We knew it is never easy against Barcelona, but this is an unbelievable result. It’s hard to comprehend.”
-- Joshua Kimmich, who scored Bayern’s fifth goal
“No, it didn’t hurt, it was fun actually” -- Bayern midfielder Leon Goretzka when asked if it hurt embarrassing his childhood idol Lionel Messi
“We have hit rock bottom. This is not the first, nor the second, nor the third time. We are not on the right path.... Tonight was unacceptable for Barcelona. It was a disgrace “ -- Barcelona defender Gerard Pique
“It’s a very difficult night, the defeat is very hard for the supporters, the players ... We are sorry for everyone. We have not lived up to the club that we are. It was a disaster.” -- Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu
“Obviously it’s a great result for us, but you don’t want your national team colleagues to experience something like that,” Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer about his opposite number Marc-Andre Ter Stegen
“In the end, I really must pay the team a huge compliment as the way they played, the attitude is top. To maintain this spirit for 90 minutes is impressive.” -- Bayern coach Hansi Flick