Barcelona’s Neymar
Neymar scored two goals and Barcelona did enough to advance to the Champions League final despite losing the second leg of its semifinal 3-2 to Bayern Munich yesterday.
Neymar’s first-half goals made sure Barcelona went through 5-3 on aggregate following its 3-0 victory in the home leg last week.
Bayern managed a face-saving victory but has stumbled in the Champions League semifinals in both seasons under Pep Guardiola, the former, highly successful coach of Barcelona.
“We brought a good result to Munich but Bayern took the lead. That was not easy, but we reacted well,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said. “We leveled and we created chances. The team was good and had the lead at halftime. The second half was physical, Bayern players fought and wanted to turn the game.”
Barcelona, a four-time winner of the title, with two of them coming under Guardiola, reached its eighth Champions League final.
“It’s a wonderful goal we reached,” Luis Enrique said. He and Guardiola embraced after the match.
Bayern needed to score while keeping Barcelona’s high-powered attack in check. Bayern scored early through Medhi Benatia to gain some hope, but Neymar replied quickly and Barcelona booked a place in the June 6 final in Berlin despite second-half goals by Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller for the home side.
The two matches against his former team were a bitter experience for Guardiola, whose Bayern side was also eliminated in last season’s Champions League semifinals by eventual winner Real Madrid.
Over four semifinal legs in his first two seasons in charge of Bayern, Guardiola’s record is of three losses and only one win — the meaningless one yesterday.
Bayern secured its second Bundesliga championship under Guardiola last month but lost in the semifinals of the German Cup and will end the season with only one trophy, while it sought to repeat the treble it completed in 2013 under previous coach Jupp Heynckes.
“I am very proud of my players,” Guardiola said. “And also big compliments to Barcelona, I hope they win the fifth title.”
“We did everything we could. It’s a pity. I hope we can play better next season” — Guardiola’s last on his current contract.
Guardiola pointed out the many injuries Bayern has had to deal the entire season — wingers Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben were both unavailable yesterday — and said he would now “celebrate the Bundesliga title.”
Bayern beat Barcelona 3-2, with goals by Benatia, Lewandowski and Mueller. Neymar scored twice for Barca. AP
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