Even Lionel Messi, so often Barcelona’s saviour, was at a loss to explain how the La Liga leaders could come back from their Champions League semifinal mauling in Munich.
Barca were thumped 4-0 away by an impressive Bayern Munich in their first leg on Tuesday, putting in one of their most toothless displays in recent memory.
On Wednesday, they were greeted with newspaper headlines such as ‘Historic beating’ in Madrid-based daily Marca, ‘Catastrophe’ in Barcelona-based Mundo Deportivo, and ‘Azulgrana Waterloo’ in daily El Mundo.
The Barca players looked dazed and downcast as they spoke to reporters in the mixed zone, and lacked conviction when asked about their chances of turning the result around at the Nou Camp next Wednesday.
“They were better than us, they were much stronger. They beat us in everything and were superior,” World Player-of-the-Year Messi told reporters.
“A comeback is difficult, Bayern are a very good team. We have to lift ourselves, try to secure the league title and try to turn this round. If we can’t, we need to start thinking about next season.”
Barcelona centre half Gerard Pique acknowledged his team were thoroughly second best. “They gave us a thrashing,” he said. “We will try to turn it around in the return leg (on May 1) and put in a good performance for the fans.
“They were better and faster than us. There is no point talking about the referee, there is no excuse.”
Arjen Robben, who sparkled on the wing for Bayern and scored one of the goals, hailed his team’s spectacular performance.
“We knew we could give them a good game,” the Dutch international told ITV. “Before everybody said it was a 50-50 game and we can be very proud. Barca have dominated Europe over the last five years and we beat them in such a terrific way.”
