It was only three weeks ago that Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller was teasing his former teammate, Robert Lewandowski, about their clubs’ fates in the UEFA Champions League draw. Famously referring to the Barcelona striker as “Mr Lewangoalski,” Muller, along with the rest of the football world, was sent into a frenzy the moment Spain’s FC Barcelona drew old rivals and German Champions, FC Bayern Munich in their group. 

Feverish anticipation appeared in the form of ceaseless memes all over Twitter and Instagram. This built up in the three weeks between the Champions League draw and the game between Bayern and Barcelona, with many left unsure of what to expect. In all meetings between the two clubs, Barcelona have only won twice–a result which, Robert Lewandowski, having been one of Bayern’s all time top scorers, played a large role in.

With an all time aggregate score of 30-13, Barcelona are no strangers to a Bayern Munich thrashing, yet, the two sides have had different starts to their respective league campaigns. While Bayern Munich have failed to register a win in their last three Bundesliga games, Barcelona have remained undefeated in their LaLiga campaign, with four wins and one draw. The summer arrival of Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona has proven to be a blessing, with the striker scoring six goals and registering two assists in five games.

However, even Mr Lewangoalski could not rescue Barcelona from their fate. This high stakes fixture certainly lived up to all the anticipation that had come weeks prior, and satisfied the age old tradition of leaving Barcelona fans angry and Bayern fans ecstatic.

During an electrifying first half, misses from Barcelona’s Pedri, Dembele, Lewandowski and Raphinha proved to be debilitating to the Spanish side, who failed to convert all of their ten chances. Bayern Munich shared their frustration, failing to convert from four shots on goal. However, the story of the game was written just five minutes into the second half, where Lucas Hernandez’s header went flying past Ter Stegen and into the net. Barcelona went on to concede a second goal only four minutes later, when Leroy Sane ran through Barcelona’s defence to roll the ball past Ter Stegen.

FC Barcelona manager Xavi was left devastated after the defeat, angrily stating that his side “deserved so much more,” in his post match interview. This was similarly echoed by celebrated youngster Pedri, who said that the result “does not reflect” the game accurately.

Despite their loss, however, FC Barcelona are in no way the same side that famously lost 8-2 to Bayern in 2020. Match statistics show that Barcelona dominated the game with majority possession and 18 shots on goal. Though left frustrated by the result, Barcelona may yet be able to celebrate their drastically improved side after their highly successful transfer window. Against Bayern Munich, they were simply unlucky–but that’s the beauty of football.