Barcelona 2-8 Bayern Munich: 10 talking points from the historic night

The Catalans shipped in eight goals in a match for the first time since 1946!

Bayern Munich cantered into the semi-finals of the Champions League after an unbelievable 8-2 demolition of Barcelona.

Thomas Muller (2), Ivan Perisic, Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich, Robert Lewandowski, and Philipe Coutinho (2) were all on the scoresheet as the Catalans were subjugated to their worst ever defeat in Europe.

The scoreline is self-explanatory. Bayern trampled Lionel Messi and co. mercilessly and despite a few nervy moments early on, stormed to a victory of epic proportions, and will face the winner of Manchester City versus Lyon in the last four as another ‘treble’ edges closer.

Here are the 10 talking points from the match:

Barca down to bare bones

No one saw Barcelona besting this blistering Bayern Munich side. Not even the staunchest Cules. The top dollar was always banked on the Bavarians, and yet, what transpired last night was beyond humiliation and completely unexpected. The Catalans were outpaced, outmaneuvered, outfought, and outclassed in every department. There’s no other way of putting it. Bayern’s high press and ruthless incursion down the flanks blew them out of the water. And not even Messi could do anything about this.

The most crushing defeat

Barcelona join Besiktas and Malmo as the only sides in the Champions League-era to concede eight times in a single match. Not the company which a club of this ilk would want to be in, and that’s not even the worst part. The Catalans also become the first side to ship an octuplet of goals in the knockout stages of the competition, another disgraceful record, and a damning indictment of the club’s dramatic fall from grace. To top it all off, this is also Barca’s worst defeat in all competitions since 1951. It would be borderline blasphemous to say anything further.

Was Lewandowski offside?

The Bavarians were so clinical in the demolition job that the referee consulted the VAR only once all night. Lewandowski, who was uncharacteristically quiet but heavily involved in the build-up, finally appeared to get his goal when he headed Coutinho’s cross from five yards out, but there was a suspicion that he was offside. The replays hinted exactly that, as the Pole appeared to be a tad ahead of the last man Pique, but the goal was allowed to stand. Considering the larger scheme of things though, it hardly mattered as the Catalans were getting hammered anyways.