Sweet defeat for Barcelona in Munich

FC Barcelona have become the first team to seal their place in the UEFA Champions League final despite losing 3-2 in the second leg of their semi-final tie against FC Bayern München, with the aggregate scoreline reading 3-5 at the final whistle.

Despite getting a 3-0 victory in the first leg, the Liga BBVA leaders, still went out to win from the get go, although their lead was shortened in the seventh minute when Medhi Benatia pulled a goal back for the home side from a corner kick. Nonetheless, the Catalans displayed their quality and in the space of 14 minutes, between 15' and 29', they turned things around on the scoreboard thanks to a Neymar brace. The Brazilian’s two goals effectively wrapped up Barcelona’s passage to the Berlin final with 45 minutes still left on the clock.

The second half got underway with Bayern on the hunt for an equaliser and Robert Lewandowski was the man who levelled the matters in the 59th minute (2-2). The Pole’s strike filled the Bavarians with belief and with 16 minutes of regular time left they then went ahead through Thomas Müller. Even though the Bundesliga champions dominated the final stages of the game, Barcelona were barely ruffled over the course of an encounter that was more or less decided a week ago in the Camp Nou.