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FC Barcelona - Bayern München: Farewell to Wembley (0-3)
www.fcbarcelona.cat
05/01/2013 22:40
Barça say goodbye to the Champions League this season after their sixth semi-final on the run
Barça failed to make it to the 2013 Champions League final at Wembley this month – it’ll be an all German affair between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, who tonight confirmed their place, finishing 7-0 winners on aggregate after beating Barça 0-3 at the Camp Nou. Without the injured Leo Messi, Tito Vilanova’s side went for the fight back, but a Robben goal at the start of the second half ruined their hopes and settled the tie, with two more goals coming before the end- an own goal by Piqué and another from Müller- to confirm the first ever all-German Champions League final.
Barça, then, say goodbye to the Champions League this season after their sixth semi-final on the run, with the possibility of a 22[SUP]nd[/SUP] league title this coming weekend.
Few chances
Leo Messi’s absence from the starting line up was the big news before kick off and without the World Number One, the task facing Barça became even tougher. They made a bright start though, attacking with seven players and creating chances after dominating possession early on. With just Valdés and a three man defence (Bartra, Piqué and Adriano) protecting the Barça goal, the team worked hard to break down the German defences, which however stood firm against the onslaught.
The first half ended goalless with just a couple of attacks down the right by Alves and a long range effort from Pedro which Neuer tipped over, for the hosts, whilst Piqué’s skill and speed proved enough to snuff out the German’s occasional counter attack.
Robben opens the scoring
Bayern Munich’s all important opener came soon after the break, when a cross field switch caught the Barça defence out and the unmarked Robben chased into the box and fired past Valdes. The German bench rushed out to celebrate – Bayern were now surely through to Wembley.
Two more goals finish off the game
Vilanova then brought off Xavi and Iniesta, for Alexis and Thiago and the intensity of the game – with the tie already decided – dropped off. One of Barça’s best players on the night – Gerard Piqué was desperately unlucky to put through his own goal from a Ribery cross and a few minutes later the Frenchman provided the cross for Müller to head in the third at the back post and confirm Barça’s farewell to the Wembley final.
Tito Vilanova: “I want to congratulate Bayern for reaching the final and for how well they played”
Anna Segura
05/02/2013 00:12
The manager congratulated Bayern for reaching the final of the Champions League
"I want to thank the fans, they supported us until the end", said Vilanova
Tito Vilanova admitted that Bayern Munich were the superior side throughout the Champions League semi-final tie between the two teams. “I want to congratulate Bayern for reaching the final and for how well they played.” When asked about tonight’s match at the Camp Nou the manager explained that Barça “competed in the first half and in the second their early goal really put a lot of weight on us.” He added that his team “competed until the end, but in the end we couldn’t do it.”
Managing the team
The manager, who has been criticized for his management of the team this season, said “we’ve given playing time to all the players this year. We have never distributed the load more than we have this season.”
Vilanova also explained why he decided to sub out Xavi and Iniesta: “we had to score six goals and at that moment I thought we couldn’t do it. Xavi has been dealing with injuries and we have an important game this Sunday.”
On the team’s physical fitness level, Vilanova said that “these players have played over 300 games in the past five years.” He added: “the first half of the season through December was very good. But now it's getting more difficult.”
Messi’s absence
The manager then talked about Leo Messi’s absence against Bayern Munich: “Leo played against Athletic because he was feeling good but at the end of the match he noticed a strange feeling in his leg. There’s no injury but after so many days of not training it can feel uncomfortable for a player and he could have picked up an injury if he had played.” He added: “when you have such a good player like Leo it’s normal for it to be noticeable when he doesn’t play.”
Song and Bartra
Song and Bartra, both of whom had great games against Bayern, were singled out for praise by the Barça manager. “Song helped us tremendously when Bayern countered, and it’s good for Bartra’s progress to play these types of games.”
Xavi: “Bayern dominate almost every facet of football and we have to congratulate them”
Ignasi Massafret
05/01/2013 23:48
The midfielder congratulates Bayern on making it to the final of the Champions League
Xavi Hernández was clear and transparent when he talked to the press after this evening’s match against Bayern Munich. “They dominate almost every facet of football and we have to congratulate them,” he said.
Here are the statements made by some of the Barça players after the match:
Gerard Piqué
“It doesn’t feel good when this happens, we didn’t have a bad first half but when they scored their first in the second half ... it made the remaining 45 minutes very difficult”
“We gave it all we had. Now it’s time to focus on La Liga, finish it off as soon as possible and then think about next season”
“It’s not the same without Leo but that didn’t influence the match, the result would have been similar”
“Defeat is just as painful if Madrid win or lose”
Dani Alves
“They competed better than we did and they came into the match better than we did, they deserve to be in the final”
“We have to thank the fans for their support and promise them that we will return”
“The fans understand football and they know that when you get knocked down you get up and you keep on fighting”
“We still have that hunger to keep on winning and the fact that we were eliminated in the semi-finals proves that. We don’t make excuses. If your opponent is better than you, you get eliminated”
“When they score a goal and they already have a four-goal advantage, it’s devastating. We have to keep playing at this level, if your level drops you get run over”
Cesc Fàbregas
“They are lethal on the counter”
“We would have preferred to go to the break with a goal, but the 0-0 wasn’t bad. Robben’s goal really made it difficult”
“The players are hurt, we have to react and win La Liga as soon as possible”
“We went up against a very strong Bayern, their counters with Ribery and Robben were very hard to stop. But we are Barça, we don’t make excuses”
“We can’t give up. We lost the tie in Germany, that result really influenced today’s match. If we could have scored one or two goals early, it would have changed everything”
www.fcbarcelona.cat
05/01/2013 22:40
Barça say goodbye to the Champions League this season after their sixth semi-final on the run
Barça failed to make it to the 2013 Champions League final at Wembley this month – it’ll be an all German affair between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, who tonight confirmed their place, finishing 7-0 winners on aggregate after beating Barça 0-3 at the Camp Nou. Without the injured Leo Messi, Tito Vilanova’s side went for the fight back, but a Robben goal at the start of the second half ruined their hopes and settled the tie, with two more goals coming before the end- an own goal by Piqué and another from Müller- to confirm the first ever all-German Champions League final.
Barça, then, say goodbye to the Champions League this season after their sixth semi-final on the run, with the possibility of a 22[SUP]nd[/SUP] league title this coming weekend.
Few chances
Leo Messi’s absence from the starting line up was the big news before kick off and without the World Number One, the task facing Barça became even tougher. They made a bright start though, attacking with seven players and creating chances after dominating possession early on. With just Valdés and a three man defence (Bartra, Piqué and Adriano) protecting the Barça goal, the team worked hard to break down the German defences, which however stood firm against the onslaught.
The first half ended goalless with just a couple of attacks down the right by Alves and a long range effort from Pedro which Neuer tipped over, for the hosts, whilst Piqué’s skill and speed proved enough to snuff out the German’s occasional counter attack.
Robben opens the scoring
Bayern Munich’s all important opener came soon after the break, when a cross field switch caught the Barça defence out and the unmarked Robben chased into the box and fired past Valdes. The German bench rushed out to celebrate – Bayern were now surely through to Wembley.
Two more goals finish off the game
Vilanova then brought off Xavi and Iniesta, for Alexis and Thiago and the intensity of the game – with the tie already decided – dropped off. One of Barça’s best players on the night – Gerard Piqué was desperately unlucky to put through his own goal from a Ribery cross and a few minutes later the Frenchman provided the cross for Müller to head in the third at the back post and confirm Barça’s farewell to the Wembley final.
Tito Vilanova: “I want to congratulate Bayern for reaching the final and for how well they played”
Anna Segura
05/02/2013 00:12
The manager congratulated Bayern for reaching the final of the Champions League
"I want to thank the fans, they supported us until the end", said Vilanova
Tito Vilanova admitted that Bayern Munich were the superior side throughout the Champions League semi-final tie between the two teams. “I want to congratulate Bayern for reaching the final and for how well they played.” When asked about tonight’s match at the Camp Nou the manager explained that Barça “competed in the first half and in the second their early goal really put a lot of weight on us.” He added that his team “competed until the end, but in the end we couldn’t do it.”
Managing the team
The manager, who has been criticized for his management of the team this season, said “we’ve given playing time to all the players this year. We have never distributed the load more than we have this season.”
Vilanova also explained why he decided to sub out Xavi and Iniesta: “we had to score six goals and at that moment I thought we couldn’t do it. Xavi has been dealing with injuries and we have an important game this Sunday.”
On the team’s physical fitness level, Vilanova said that “these players have played over 300 games in the past five years.” He added: “the first half of the season through December was very good. But now it's getting more difficult.”
Messi’s absence
The manager then talked about Leo Messi’s absence against Bayern Munich: “Leo played against Athletic because he was feeling good but at the end of the match he noticed a strange feeling in his leg. There’s no injury but after so many days of not training it can feel uncomfortable for a player and he could have picked up an injury if he had played.” He added: “when you have such a good player like Leo it’s normal for it to be noticeable when he doesn’t play.”
Song and Bartra
Song and Bartra, both of whom had great games against Bayern, were singled out for praise by the Barça manager. “Song helped us tremendously when Bayern countered, and it’s good for Bartra’s progress to play these types of games.”
Xavi: “Bayern dominate almost every facet of football and we have to congratulate them”
Ignasi Massafret
05/01/2013 23:48
The midfielder congratulates Bayern on making it to the final of the Champions League
Xavi Hernández was clear and transparent when he talked to the press after this evening’s match against Bayern Munich. “They dominate almost every facet of football and we have to congratulate them,” he said.
Here are the statements made by some of the Barça players after the match:
Gerard Piqué
“It doesn’t feel good when this happens, we didn’t have a bad first half but when they scored their first in the second half ... it made the remaining 45 minutes very difficult”
“We gave it all we had. Now it’s time to focus on La Liga, finish it off as soon as possible and then think about next season”
“It’s not the same without Leo but that didn’t influence the match, the result would have been similar”
“Defeat is just as painful if Madrid win or lose”
Dani Alves
“They competed better than we did and they came into the match better than we did, they deserve to be in the final”
“We have to thank the fans for their support and promise them that we will return”
“The fans understand football and they know that when you get knocked down you get up and you keep on fighting”
“We still have that hunger to keep on winning and the fact that we were eliminated in the semi-finals proves that. We don’t make excuses. If your opponent is better than you, you get eliminated”
“When they score a goal and they already have a four-goal advantage, it’s devastating. We have to keep playing at this level, if your level drops you get run over”
Cesc Fàbregas
“They are lethal on the counter”
“We would have preferred to go to the break with a goal, but the 0-0 wasn’t bad. Robben’s goal really made it difficult”
“The players are hurt, we have to react and win La Liga as soon as possible”
“We went up against a very strong Bayern, their counters with Ribery and Robben were very hard to stop. But we are Barça, we don’t make excuses”
“We can’t give up. We lost the tie in Germany, that result really influenced today’s match. If we could have scored one or two goals early, it would have changed everything”
arty1:
