Champions League Semis Scores: Neymar's Brace Seals FC Barcelona's Champions League Final Seat
FC Barcelona booked a ticket to Berlin as the Spanish powerhouse team earned a final seat in the UEFA Champions League after beating German club Bayern Munich 5-3 on aggregate.
Bayern Munich scored a 3-2 win against the Catalans in the second leg, but that wasn't enough to send them to the finals. Barca's 3-0 win in the first leg at Camp Nou was too much to overcome for Bayern Munich despite enjoying strong support from their fans at Allianz Arena.
French player Mehdi Benatia scored the opening goal for Bayern in the seventh minute of the game, reported The Guardian. The unmarked striker found the net off Xabi Alonso's corner kick as Barcelona defenders left him unmarked.
However, Bayern's celebration was cut short as Neymar scored a goal in the 15th minute off a pass from teammate Luis Suarez. Bayern had two scoring opportunities in the ensuing possesions, but was deftly disallowed by Barca's goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
In the 29th minute, the German defenders where nowhere in sight that left their goal and Neuer exposed. Neymar capitalized on this error after a solid pass from Suarez, giving Barcelona a 2-1 lead heading into the break.
The Pep Guardiola-coached team was determined to do better in the second half. Robert Lewandoski found his opportunity in the 59th minute after outrunning Javier Mascherano and scored another for Bayern.
The German team scrambled to add more goals and get through Barca's advantage, but they failed to overcome the deficit as Guardiola's team bid goodbye their Champions League title hopes.
Barca manager Luis Enrique told The Telegraph after the game that the plan was to make sure that they will be ready for whatever Bayern Munich will throw at them, knowing that Bayern Munich will go all out to overcome the deficit.
"We had to make sure they didn't surprise us," Enrique said. "We forced the opponent to attack us so they had to take some risk."
Meanwhile, Guardiola, who previously coached FC Barcelona, praised his former team.
"Luis Enrique does really good work," Guardiola said after the mattch. "I want to pay a big compliment to Barcelona. I hope in Berlin they can win their fifth Champions League. They do a good job. Barcelona are very strong at the back."
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