Barcelona succumbed to their first defeat of the 2022/23 campaign as Bayern Munich secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Xavi’s men at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night.
The Blaugrana were the dominant side in the first half and create a host of opportunities that they could not convert, with Robert Lewandowski being the biggest culprit.
Those missed chances ended up hurting Barça as Bayern Munich scored two quickfire goals early in the second half through Lucas Hernandez and Leroy Sane to wrap up the tie.
It was a disappointing outcome for Barcelona, especially considering their performance and the way they had their opponents under the cosh in the first half of the game.
Indeed, Barcelona attempted ten shots in the first half against Bayern, becoming the first away team to attempt 10+ shots in the first half at the Allianz Arena in the Champions League since Fiorentina in October 2008 (11).
Gavi was one of Barça’s top performers on the night, especially in the first half when he was all over the pitch, winning back possession, driving forward and creating opportunities.
The 18-year-old created four chances in the first half against Bayern, which is his best tally in a whole match for Barcelona across all competitions (54 games).
However, things went south for the Catalans after the break as they ended up conceding twice in quick succession, allowing Bayern to pick up another victory over them.
Barcelona have now conceded 16 goals from the last 30 shots on target they have faced against Bayern Munich in the Champions League (four games).
The result also meant that Barcelona have now lost five matches in a row against Bayern Munich with an aggregate scoreline of 4-19. The Blaugrana have not scored in three successive games versus Die Roten.
Barcelona failed to score against Bayern Munich, despite having an xG of 2. They are now the team with the worst differential between goals scored and expected goals in a Champions League game this season (-2).
