Chapter 798 Lisbon Tragedy

One day after Manchester United defeated Real Madrid, the last two games of the 2019-2020 Champions League quarter-finals also came to an end. So far, the dust has settled on the eight teams in this season's Champions League, all of which are from the top five leagues, including Manchester United and Manchester City in the Premier League, Juventus and Atalanta in Serie A, and two teams from the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, and the remaining two teams are Barcelona from La Liga and Paris Saint-Germain from Ligue .

According to the results of the draw ceremony on July 7, the eight teams were divided into two halves. Manchester United, Juventus, Manchester City and RB Leipzig were in the upper half, and the four teams in the lower half were Barcelona, Atalanta, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.

The matchups in the quarter-finals between the upper and lower halves are Manchester United vs. Juventus, Manchester City vs. RB Leipzig; Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich, and Atalanta vs. Paris Saint-Germain.

按照赛程安排，比赛分别被安排在葡萄牙当地时间8月12日晚上到8月15日晚上进行。其中8月12日晚上八点是亚特兰大对巴黎圣日耳曼，8月13日晚上八点是莱比锡红牛对曼城，8月14日晚上八点是巴塞罗那对拜仁慕尼黑，8月15日晚上八点是曼联对尤文图斯。

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When the Champions League reaches the quarterfinals, there are almost no weak teams left, and each group is faced with the best teams in Europe.

Before the match between Manchester United and Juventus began, Paris Saint-Germain defeated Atalanta 2:1. This result was within everyone's expectations. After all, Paris Saint-Germain is indeed slightly stronger than Atalanta.

Manchester City lost to RB Leipzig 1:2, which was a small upset. After all, Manchester City's strength is obviously stronger than that of RB Leipzig, and Manchester City has failed to win any of the four major domestic competitions and is fully committed to the Champions League. But football matches are sometimes so magical. RB Leipzig continued to play the role of a dark horse and eliminated Manchester City.

Before this game, many people believed that the upper half of the Champions League semi-finals would likely see the Manchester derby take place again after two years, but RB Leipzig obviously disagreed with this happening and they said no to the world with their outstanding performance.

After RB Leipzig eliminated Manchester City, if Manchester United can eliminate Juventus in the subsequent quarter-finals as they wish, they will face RB Leipzig in the semi-finals.

However, as a veteran European giant, and with the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, the king of the Champions League, it is not an easy task for Manchester United to eliminate Juventus.

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However, the real upset happened between Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

As the two top clubs in European football today, before this matchup, many people thought that it would be a fierce battle and the winner would definitely be a narrow victory.

But when the game was over, the result shocked the whole world, because Bayern Munich actually slaughtered the once universal team with a score of 8:2!

Due to the epidemic, this game was played in an empty stadium, with only a few substitute players, club staff and families of the stars in the stands.

Before the game, under the guidance of the referee, the captains of the two clubs, Yosi, shook hands with Neuer in a friendly manner. In front of the tall Neuer, Yosi seemed a little weak.

Soon, the referee turned his eyes from his watch back to the court, trotted back, and blew the whistle carefully, and the game began.

Without the excited fans, the sounds of the ball passing and colliding echoed in the huge Stadium of Light, and the shouts in Spanish and German continued to tear the grass.

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In the third minute of the game, Muller received a cross at the top of the penalty area, and he made a beautiful wall pass with Lewandowski and shot with his left foot in the penalty area.

The football drew an elegant arc in the air and bounced into the net in front of the gloves of Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen.

For a moment, the Stadium of Light seemed to have returned to the time when it was full of supporters beating drums and singing team songs: Muller shouted excitedly and celebrated this wonderful goal with his teammates, Gnabry jumped on his back, and Lewandowski patted him in praise from behind.

At that time, Bayern Munich players might have been a little surprised or astonished that the first goal came so easily.

But soon they won’t be.

Muller's goal seemed to be a response to the praise given to him by Bayern Munich fans: a bottle opener of tragedy!

Bayern Munich scored five goals in the first half alone, including an own goal by Alaba.

Barcelona? They didn't score a single goal.

As the referee's whistle sounded, the game temporarily entered the halftime break with a score of 1:4.

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In the locker room, Yosi and Ter Stegen stood silently at the door without saying a word.

For Bayern Munich, the second half seemed to be a reflection of the first half, but for Barcelona, these 45 minutes were much more brutal.

In the 63rd minute, Alphonso Davies destroyed Semedo in a nearly humiliating manner. Then, Coutinho, who was loaned to Bayern Munich from Barcelona, came off the bench and completed two shots and one assist, but he refused to celebrate.

When Vidal was lying on the billboard gasping for breath, when Yossi was holding his forehead helplessly, and when Setien was like the suffering Jesus on the sidelines, finally, at least for Barcelona, the game was finally over.

The score of 2:8 was clearly displayed on the display screen of the Guangming Stadium.

This was the first time in Barcelona's history that they conceded eight goals in a single European game. Up to that point, Barcelona had played a total of 8 games and conceded eight goals in six games. The last time Barcelona conceded eight goals in a single game was in the 4440 Copa del Rey, when Barcelona lost 6-8 to Sevilla.

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After the game, perhaps in the last 30 minutes, the players on the field were numb to the score and the goal. The victorious Bayern Munich players did not hug each other excitedly to celebrate, nor did they kneel down and cry. They just clapped and greeted their teammates and Barcelona players, put their hands on their shoulders, tilted their heads and whispered.

Yosi looked up at the scoreboard on the court. It was difficult to describe the complex emotions in his eyes.

Alphonso Davies walked up to Yosi and tried to exchange jerseys with him, but he was unsuccessful.

In 2018, Barcelona legend Stoichkov recommended Alphonso Davies, who was playing for the Vancouver Whitecaps, to Barcelona. Perhaps because of the non-European quota or other "technical reasons", then-Barcelona president Bartomeu refused to sign the player: "Forget it, he's a Canadian."

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After the game, Pique came to the interview area alone to be interviewed by the media. He spoke slowly and intermittently, and his expression looked a little anxious and sad: "This is a terrible game. Now we feel terrible. The only word that can describe it is shame. It shouldn't be like this. We shouldn't have such performances in the European arena."

"This isn't the first, second or third time. It's so difficult right now and I hope it can make a difference and everyone can react."

"I think the club needs some changes. I'm not talking about the players and the coach. It's structural. The club needs changes in all aspects. I'm the first one to say if we need new blood. I'm also the first one to leave the club because I think we have hit rock bottom."

"We all have to react from within and decide what is best for Barcelona and what is most important for Barcelona."

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After the humiliating game, Barcelona fell into the abyss.

"I thought it was a collision between Mars and the Earth, but it turned out to be Chang Wei hitting Lai Fu." When netizens expressed their feelings about the game in this way, Barcelona left the Champions League stage in a slightly humiliating manner.

The score of Bayern Munich 8:2 Barcelona not only shows how strong Bayern Munich is today, but also reflects Barcelona's difficult situation.

What's even more embarrassing is that the average age of Barcelona's starting lineup against Bayern Munich was 29 years and 329 days, setting a record for the highest average age in the team's Champions League history.

While other teams can shout the slogan "Come back next year", Barcelona may only be able to respond with a sigh.

After the game, Pique said bluntly: "If there is fresh blood, I would be the first to leave the team for this reason."

This is also the 20th time that Bayern has advanced to the Champions League semi-finals. In history, only Real Madrid has advanced to the Champions League semi-finals more times, with the latter reaching the Champions League semi-finals 29 times. But compared to the history of advancement, Bayern is more terrifying because of their strong dominance.

In this game, Bayern Munich completely crushed the opponent.

According to statistics, Bayern Munich had 26 shots in the whole game, 13 of which were on target, while Barcelona had only 7 shots, not even as many goals as Bayern Munich.

The 8 goals in a single game also set a record for goals scored in the Champions League knockout stage.

After the game, Neuer said: "This game certainly reminds us of the 2014 World Cup Germany 7:1 Brazil game, but today, Bayern Munich's dominance over Barcelona was stronger than Germany's dominance over Brazil."

What’s even more terrifying is that Bayern Munich’s dominance extends almost throughout the entire Champions League.

In the previous group stage, Bayern Munich scored 6 goals in 24 games, and in the two rounds of the quarter-finals against Atletico Madrid, Bayern scored a total of 7 goals. Together with the 8 goals in this game, Bayern's Champions League goal tally this season has reached 39 goals.

According to statistics, the 39 goals have broken Bayern's previous record for the number of goals scored in a single Champions League season, and Bayern has only reached the quarter-finals.

Bayern Munich is so strong that they were quickly listed as the top favorites to win the Champions League this season by betting agencies across Europe. Manchester United was left behind by them, even though the Red Devils had just defeated another top La Liga club, Real Madrid, twice in the round of 16.