Bayern Munich was for years the club of FC Barcelona. Black beastthe Black Beast, the German giant that even Barça could not conquer.
Spanish media coined the term as the Champions League defeats piled up and built as Barcelona drifted further away from their best of the early 2010s.
The Catalan club had gone through the last years of the Lionel Messi era. Hampered by financial difficulties and political upheavalhe had sunk into a state of myopia, apparently precarious. He has spent most of the last five seasons languishing below football’s elite. He has only won La Liga once during this period. He could not get past the quarter-finals of the Champions League. And five consecutive defeats against Bayern – by scores of 8-2, 3-0, 3-0, 2-0, 3-0 – epitomize their decline.
It was therefore normal that, on Wednesday, a beating of Bayern have become the best proof of Barça’s resurgence.
THE Blaugrana beat Bayern 4-1 in the first phase of the Champions League and showed the dynamic football that puts them at the top of La Liga – ahead of this season’s premiere. ClassicSaturday at Real Madrid.
They demonstrated it from the first minute on Wednesday in their temporary stadium, Montjuïc. Raphinha, whose place in the team once seemed proof of Barca’s decadence, finished off a slick and energetic move with his first of three goals on the evening.
Overall, Barça were not three goals or three worlds better than Bayern. Harry Kane had a goal disallowed by a marginal offside. Bayern bombarded Barca’s backline with attack after attack throughout a frantic first half.
But from the second half, olé were ringing.
And Barça were indeed better – than Bayern and any other Barça team of the 2020s.
His dazzling start to La Liga is proof that Wednesday was no fluke. And Wednesday was proof that La Liga’s form, produced mainly against lesser opposition, is sustainable.
Barcelona is not content with occupying first place, three points ahead of Real Madrid. He has already scored 33 goals. Robert Lewandowski – scorer of the (lucky) second goal against Bayern – has already scored 12 in the league and 15 in all competitions.
Lewandowski is at the helm of a multi-faceted beast that, on paper, isn’t all that different from last season. Its results, however, were. Most of his victories were deserved and complete. Their expected goal differential is already +15.2, more than six goals better than any other team in La Liga.
Barca only signed Dani Olmo in the off-season. But its famous academy has produced another wave of young people who are propelling this turnaround: striker Lamine Yamal (17), midfielders Marc Casadó (21) and Pedri (21), defender Pau Cubarsí (17). ) and many others. Gavi (20), a starter for the Spanish national team when he was a teenager, is back after 11 months out due to ACL injury. Fermín López, Ansu Fati and other residents are also involved.
And at their head, Hansi Flick, a German manager who kissed – and was adopted by – Catalonia.
Flick was the man at the helm of the Bayern Munich team that beat Barca 8-2 and won the Champions League in 2020. That match alone made such an impression on the Barcelona hierarchy that he contributed to his hiring last summer, after Xavi’s controversial dismissal.
Xavi, in many ways, deserves some credit for the recent recovery. But Flick’s impact was instantaneous. He liked the kids at the academy. He empowered an oft-criticized group of veterans. He has made them a contender for multiple trophies, a team that plays with flair and composure, and a thriving unit that, on Wednesday, broke the Bayern beast.
Next comes rival, reigning Spanish and European champion Real Madrid (Saturday, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN+). But like The classic wait, one conclusion is already clear: Barça is back.
