Champions League now Bayern’s to lose this summer

After thrashing Barcelona 8-2 in the Champions League quarterfinals, Bayern Munich has all the talent and skill to win Europe’s top prize.

This space could easily be reserved to dissect the downfall of Barcelona. While Barca’s obituary has been the preoccupation of many over the past 24 hours, one should not overlook the dominance and power exerted by Bayern Munich following their record-setting 8-2 thrashing of the now-fallen Spanish giants.

Bayern is now firmly become the favorite to capture the Champions League. Like Germany’s 7-1 rout of Brazil at the 2014 World Cup semifinals — they would go on to win the title — Bayern’s win Friday against Barcelona was a message to the rest of the field that they are the strongest club in Europe.

After miscues by Barcelona, the Champions League is now Bayern Munich’s to lose

How did we get here? Barcelona made a series of bad decisions over the last few seasons that were finally exposed when paired against a team as talented as Bayern Munich. The bigger question, as it pertains to this Champions League, is how did Bayern become so dominant?

It was last season that Bayern narrowly won the Bundesliga title, forcing the club to retool an aging lineup — something Barca failed to do despite some warning signs — that meant veterans like Franck Ribery and Arjun Robben were gone.

A year later, Hansi Flick’s squad is younger and hungrier. Add to that the coronavirus pause and the new Champions League format and Bayern is very well poised to lift another European title. Entering the semifinals, they remain the only club left in the competition that has lifted the trophy. That kind of pedigree is helpful when the rest of the field is loaded with Cinderella sides. A potential Bayern-RB Leipzig, for example, would also become a major talking point for those who argue that the Bundesliga is the world’s best domestic tournament.

As for Bayern, striker Robert Lewandowski has been on fire this season, helped by midfielder Thomas Mueller’s move right behind him as a playmaker. Defender David Alaba was moved to center back from the left flank earlier this season and the insertion of Philippe Coutinho (on loan from Barcelona, no less) and teenager Alphonso Davies have given Bayern the ability to dominate this season.

As a result, Bayern has made a strong case for also winning a treble after recently grabbing the league-cup double.

“The way my players played over 90 minutes, the intensity which they maintained was over the top,” Flick told reporters. “This is our mentality. That is what we stand for.”

Indeed, the quarterfinal victory against Barca was intense. The demolition of Barcelona says a lot about the shortcomings plaguing the Spanish, but overlooked in all this is Bayern’s ability to pick apart an opponent with their defensive high line, midfield pressing and clinical attack.

As the competition heads into the semifinals (waiting in the wings now for the Germans is the winner of Manchester City-Lyon), Bayern has been put everyone on notice. They are now the team to beat. It’s their title to lose.