Bayern Munich, for years, was FC Barcelona Black Beastthe Black Beast, the German giant that not even Barça could conquer.
spanish media coined the term as Champions League defeats piled up, and tilted as Barcelona slipped from their best in the early 2010s.
The Catalan club had stumbled through the final years of the Lionel Messi era. Hampered by financial problems and political turmoil, he had fallen into a short-sighted and seemingly precarious situation. He spent most of the last five seasons languishing below football’s elite. They won La Liga only once during that period. He couldn’t get past the quarterfinals of the Champions League. And five consecutive defeats to Bayern (by scores of 8-2, 3-0, 3-0, 2-0, 3-0) epitomized their decline.
So it was appropriate that, on Wednesday, a beating of Bayern became the best proof so far of Barça’s resurgence.
He blaugrana They beat Bayern 4-1 in the first phase of the Champions League and showed the dynamic football that has them at the top of La Liga, before the first match of this season. ClassicSaturday at Real Madrid.
They showed it in the first minute of Wednesday in their temporary stadium, Montjuïc. Raphinha, whose place in the team once felt like evidence of Barça’s decline, completed a deft and energetic move with his first of three goals of the night.
In general terms, Barça was neither three goals nor worlds better than Bayern. Harry Kane had a goal disallowed for marginal offside. Bayern bombarded Barça’s defense with attack after attack during a dizzying first half.
But in the second half, olés They were ringing.
And Barça was, in fact, better than Bayern and any other Barça team of the 2020s.
His good start in La Liga is proof that Wednesday was no coincidence. And Wednesday was proof that La Liga’s form, produced mainly against lesser rivals, is sustainable.
Barcelona not only remains in 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 the head of a multifaceted beast who, on paper, doesn’t look all that different from last season. However, its results have been. Most of his victories have been deserved and complete. Their expected goal differential is already +15.2, more than six goals better than any other team in La Liga.
Barça only made one signing in the off-season, Dani Olmo. But their famous academy has produced another wave of youngsters who are driving this change: striker Lamine Yamal (17), midfielders Marc Casadó (21) and Pedri (21), defender Pau Cubarsí (17) and more. Gavi (20), a starter in the Spanish team when he was a teenager, has returned after 11 months out due to anterior cruciate ligament injury. Fermín López, Ansu Fati and other locals are also involved.
And at the head of all of them is Hansi Flick, a German manager who has embraced – and has been adopted by – Catalonia.
Flick was the man in charge of the Bayern Munich team that beat Barça 8-2 to win the Champions League in 2020. That match alone made such an impression on the Barcelona hierarchy that it 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 has been instantaneous. He has valued the kids at the academy. He has empowered a group of often criticized veterans. It has turned them into a contender for multiple trophies, a team that plays with style and poise, and a burgeoning unit that, on Wednesday, toppled the Bayern beast.
Next up is archrival, reigning Spanish and European champion Real Madrid (Saturday, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN+). But how The Classic wait, one conclusion is now clear: Barça is back.
