On Tuesday, April 23, the first leg of the Champions League semi-final took place when Barcelona, the Spanish champions, and Bayern Munchen, the German champions, met in a battle to reach the finals of the Champions League.

Barcelona and Bayern Munchen are both top teams in Europe, but Barcelona had a special weapon, Lionel Messi. Unfortunately for Barcelona, Mesi recently suffered an injury and thus wasn’t in tip-top shape as usual.

Immediately, Bayern Munich set the pace of the game. During the 25th minute, Thomas Muller scored for Bayern Munich. As the game went on it seemed almost one sided, unusual from a talented Barcelona team.

Hoping to recuperate during half time, Barcelona left the field. After a short rest the game was back on, and Barcelona seemed more collected.

To Barcelona’s disappointment, right after halftime, on the 49th minute, Mario Gomez scored to increase Bayern’s lead for Bayern Munich. Down 2-0, the game was still winnable for Barcelona, and the players maintained some confidence in their ability to win.

After a while of running back and forth, Arjen Robben, Bayern Munich’s captain, extended the lead to 3-0 on the 73rd minute. With less than 20 minutes left, Barcelona acknowledged they had been defeated, their confidence was depleted and their players frustrated.

Their frustration inhibited their playing and soon led to another Bayern Munich goal on the 82nd minute by Thomas Muller. Now 4-0, Barcelona was ready to leave the field.

Although the game should’ve been close, Bayern Munich completely dominated every aspect of the game. They had more than triple the shots on target as Barcelona, Barcelona committed more fouls, and Bayern Munich had more corners.

With one more match left with Bayern Munich, Barcelona might be talented enough to come back from a 4-0 deficit. Lionel Messi will be in better shape as he recovers from his injury, and Barcelona will has the home-field advantage at the next game. The games aren’t over yet. #