© EuroFootball.com
After the first Champions League semi-final match, one team's camp was filled with joy and praises, while the other was dominated by a mood of sorrow.
Black night for "Barcelona"
Some had reasons to celebrate, while others had reasons to pour out their pain: in the first semi-final match at home, Munich's "Bayern" crushed the "Barcelona" team 4-0. Two goals from Thomas Muller, precise strikes from Arjen Robben and Mario Gomez - the Catalan team had no chances.
"They broke us," sadly admitted "Barcelona" defender Gerard Pique after the match.
This defeat for the Catalan team is one of the darkest in the club's history. "Barcelona" lost 4-0 to "Milan" in the 1994 Champions League final. The same result was seen when "Barcelona" lost to Kiev's "Dinamo" in 1977 in European tournaments.
Coach praising his players
Munich's coach Jupp Heynckes showered his players with a bouquet of compliments and praises, but warned that there was still one more step to take - at the "Camp Nou" stadium.
"Throughout this season, we played an incredible football. We have an amazing team where all players come together - on the field and off it. In the past two years, success has not always been on our side, so the players became even hungrier. The tactical ingenuity of this team is of the highest level, as well as their desire to fight for each other. These matches were a great example of all of that.
I am pleased with the result, but we still have 90 minutes in Spain. We will enjoy what happened tonight, but nothing more. It is very important to maintain our skills and alertness when facing "Barcelona.
It is also important to maintain our tactical discipline in defense, as in attack we can always rely on our creativity," said J. Heynckes.
Arjen Robben, who scored the third goal of the match, was glad that this team fell at their feet.
"This club has dominated Europe for the past five years, so if we beat such a team, I think we can be proud of ourselves," said A. Robben.
Surpassed in everything
"Barcelona" team's assistant coach Jordi Roura said that on Tuesday evening, one team dominated at the "Allianz Arena" stadium, leaving no hopes for the opponents.
"Bayern" team deserves congratulations. They were stronger and demonstrated a higher level of play than us. They were physically stronger, taller, more powerful. In the first half, we didn't play very badly, but they scored a goal quite early, so it became much more difficult for us. We left too much space for the opponents.
"Bayern" played amazingly, while we lacked freshness and lightness in competing with them. This is something we need to correct. We did not correct the situations that we could have corrected. The result is bad. We understand that we are in a bad situation, but we are the "Barcelona" team and in the second match, we must strive and win. We will do everything within our power," said J. Roura.
"We will try to retaliate in the second match and show our fans beautiful play. The opponents were better and quicker than us this time. There is no point in talking about officiating - there are no excuses," said G. Pique.
Four goals - not always a loss for everyone
Statistics are not favorable for the "Barcelona" team, but there have been cases where a four-goal deficit has been overturned. However, in European tournaments, there are not many - just three.
In the 1984-1985 UEFA Cup season, Belgrade's "Partizan" lost the first match 2-6 to "Queens Park Rangers," but in the second match, they fought back and won 4-0.
In the 1985-1986 UEFA Cup season, Madrid's "Real" lost the first match 1-5 to Moenchenglabdach's "Borussia", but won the second match 4-0.
In the 1960-1961 European Cup Winners' Cup season, Portugal's club "Leixos" lost 2-6 to Switzerland's "Chaux de Fonfds," but dominated the second match and celebrated a 5-0 victory.
