Champions League Analysis: Champions League Semifinals, Bayern Munich 3, Barcelona 0

In the end, Barcelona’s mission was indeed impossible.

There was no magic, there was no Lionel Messi. There was only Bayern Munich, the newly crowned champions of Germany’s Bundesliga, playing like they owned the Camp Nou while rumbling and racing to a 3-0 victory in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal series. That is 7-0 on aggregate.

The visitors are now headed to London’s Wembley Stadium to face their domestic rival, Borussia Dortmund, in the final on May 25.

 The outcome was ordained perhaps from the moment Barcelona Coach Tito Vilanova posted his starting lineup minus Messi. The Argentine striker was a non-factor in Bayern’s 4-0 win in the first leg last week, struggling with a hamstring injury. But Messi returned, as a substitute in last Saturday’s match against Athletic Bilbao, scoring a signature goal from a darting run. But on Wednesday, Messi never budged from the bench, save for joining his teammate in the locker room between halves.

In the first half, Bayern Munich refused to bunker in on defense as it tried to exploit Barcelona’s desperation to score an early goal. Counterattacks led by Arjen Robben out wide on the right kept Barcelona off-balance. The first 45 minutes ended scoreless.

Only minutes into the second half, it was Robben, the skillful Dutch wing, who stuck the dagger into the hearts of Barcelona. Defender David Alaba settled an errant punt from Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdés and found Robben unmarked on the right flank with a long diagonal pass. Robben, who is left-footed, did what he has done so many times for the Dutch national team and his former club, Chelsea. He cut into the middle and smacked a left-footed shot that eluded Valdés, high and inside of the far post. The fans in the Camp Nou were deflated. And Bayern was on its way to London.

Bayern Munich, which will play in its third Champions League final in four years, added two more goals; one on an own goal in the 72nd minute by Gerard Piqué and the final one four minutes later on a header by Thomas Müller.

For Bayern Munich, the victory at the Camp Nou should help to erase the memory of losing there to Manchester United in the Champions League final in 1999, when United scored two late goals to win, 2-1. Two years later, in 2001, Bayern again claimed the European title, defeating Valencia in penalty kick shootout for its fourth continental title.

“We played an outstanding game but there is a difference of Barca with and without Messi.,” Bayern Coach Jupp Heynckes told ZDF television. “But it is a result one could not forecast. I know the philosophy of Barcelona and my team understood extremely well how to deploy our tactics. It was harder than it looked. My team was very focused, we knew what we were up against.”