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The 67-year-old coach hailed his side’s “clever” performance on Wednesday night, but feels they were fortunate not to have had to contend with the Argentine ace

Jupp Heynckes believes Bayern Munich were lucky that Lionel Messi did not feature for Barcelona in the Bavarians’ 3-0 win at Camp Nou on Wednesday.

The Argentine watched on from the substitutes bench as Arjen Robben’s stunner, a Gerard Pique own goal, and Thomas Muller’s late strike condemned his side to a 7-0 aggregate defeat in the Champions League semi-final.

And while Heynckes was proud of his team’s focus in the tie, he acknowledged the Blaugrana are a different prospect without their talismanic attacker.

“I think it was clearly noticeable that my team entered this game extremely focused,” he told reporters after the match. “We played great right from the start. However, there is no denying it – Barcelona is a different team without [Lionel] Messi.

“Still, I am sure no one expected us to win 7-0 on aggregate. I would not say that we witnessed an end of an era tonight. Barcelona were missing a lot of players and we showed a clever performance.”

Bayern will now contest the final on May 25 against Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund, and Heynckes feels BVB’s place at Wembley is fully deserved, albeit a little surprising.

“Dortmund deserve to be in the final, as they are playing a great season as well,” he continued. “Sure, it is a small surprise that they reached the final. I obviously hope that we can be successful in Wembley. We will now reflect on what we achieved tonight, enjoy the moment and then put our focus on the game against Dortmund on the weekend [in the Bundesliga].”

Much has been made of the future of Heynckes as the arrival of Pep Guardiola draws ever closer, but the 67-year-old has stressed there has been no contact with Real Madrid over a possible return to the Santiago Bernabeu.

“Madrid have not been in contact with me,” he remarked to Marca after Wednesday’s match.

“On May 9 I turn 68, I think I should be thinking about taking a break.”

The Bavarians tore their hosts apart to complete a battering over two legs that must prompt a serious reshuffle in Catalunya

COMMENT
By Kris Voakes

To many the tie was over as soon as Lionel Messi’s name didn’t appear among the first 11 names on the teamsheet. By the end, Barcelona fans were left wishing they’d been able to forfeit there and then.

Bayern Munich’s 3-0 victory at Camp Nou completed a phenomenal 7-0 aggregate win in the Champions League semi-final and consigned the Catalans to the kind of humiliation they have only previously subjected rather than felt themselves. The starkest fact of the last eight days is that Bayern have been every bit seven goals better than Barca.

If anything, Bayern were even more superior in the second leg than they were at the Allianz Arena, but Barca were also worse. With no Messi there was no cutting edge. Over the two games they created no real clear-cut chances to speak of, and while that may be partly forgiven in an away leg, there was simply no excusing their inability to trouble Bayern second time around.

Bayern didn’t really need to emphasise the gap any further, but three second-half goals from Arjen Robben, a calamitous Gerard Pique own goal and Thomas Muller did exactly that. Bayern were brilliant and Barcelona had nothing in return.  The ‘ole’ that came with each pass during the final half-hour came like fingernails being dragged down a blackboard to the ears of every Catalan in the stadium.

The phrase ‘End of an era’ might well have been trending on Twitter tonight such has been the depth of disappointment in the Blaugrana’s displays over the two legs. It may be easy to say in the immediate aftermath of such an unbelievable result, but there is certainly growing evidence to support it.

The blessing may come in just how big a defeat this is for Barca. If they had been edged out by Bayern as they were by Chelsea this time last year then maybe they could explain it away as a blip. Instead there can be no doubting that serious rebuilding has to be done.

This was their biggest ever aggregate defeat in a European Cup knockout match. Even when Barcelona were not ‘this Barcelona’ they never received such a spanking. But that doesn’t mean they are at their lowest ebb, after all, they’re not exactly starting from scratch as they look to recover from this.

There is much to do though, and Bayern showed exactly where Barcelona need to be. The Bavarians are the hottest team in the world right now, while the Catalans are just one of a number of outfits who are left looking on in admiration.

After the performances of the last couple of weeks, the Champions League final will be one of the most highly anticipated showpieces in recent memory. There will be no Messi and no Barcelona, but that is just how it should be. The Blaugrana have a lot to learn from Bayern, especially now they have seen at first hand just how good the Bavarians are.

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The central defender admitted that ‘la Pulga’ is key to his side’s chances, but did not attribute Wednesday’s punishing defeat to the Argentine’s enforced absence

Gerard Pique refused to blame the absence of Lionel Messi for Barcelona’s 3-0 Champions League semi-final defeat to Bayern Munich.

The defender’s own goal was sandwiched between strikes from Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller, as the Bavarians ran out 7-0 aggregate winners and set up an all-German final with Borussia Dortmund.

Messi played no part in the game, remaining an unused substitute following a recurrence of an old injury, but Pique believes the Argentine could have done little to turn the tie around.

“Messi is the best in the world. Obviously it’s not the same without him on the pitch but I don’t  think things would have been so much different with him,” he explained after the final whistle.

“It’s not pleasant living a situation like this one. We tried in the first half but after the first goal we just fell apart. The last 45 minutes were so hard.”

Barca president Sandro Rosell, meanwhile, highlighted Messi’s absence from the second leg, while admitting that Bayern were superior.

“If the best player in the world is not on the pitch, the team is not the same but all players play hard and believed and we showed that Barcelona know how to win and how to lose. It’s the coach who decides with the staff and the doctors. They take the decision and we just accept it,” the chief explained.

“We have to congratulate Bayern. They were clearly the better team and deserve to be at the final in Wembley.”

Xavi was another Blaugrana representative with high praise for the Germans, who he believed were worthy winners against his club.

The midfielder told Canal Plus: “We had many problems in defence with [Carles] Puyol, [Eric] Abidal, [Javier] Mascherano, [Sergio] Busquets and [Lionel] Messi too… but we can’t look for excuses, Bayern were better.

“It’s not fair saying German football is better than Spanish only because of these matches. Our team is still a good team and one that can keep on winning for many years, even if we didn’t know how to play against Bayern or Real Madrid.”

The Netherlands international scored in each leg of the semi-final against Tito Vilanova’s side, and was delighted that his team progressed to the final at the Blaugrana’s expense

Arjen Robben was surprised at how easily Bayern Munich beat Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final at Camp Nou.

The former Real Madrid star opened the scoring with a fine finish past Victor Valdes shortly after half-time, before an own goal from Gerard Pique and a towering header from Thomas Muller late on made it 3-0.

“It surprised me that we could dominate the match today, but we deserve credits for this. We expected a tough game, but it wasn’t that tough at all,” the Dutchman told NOS.

“It’s not up to me to say that we were superior to Barca, but we won both games with our own style.

Speaking to Uefa.com after the game, Robben said: “I think it is a terrific performance, it is a little bit of history.

“To perform like this, against a team who have dominated Europe for the past five years, who have so much quality, it is amazing.

“The most important thing is we play as a team, not only going forward but defensively.

“If you want to achieve something and have results and win competitions at a high level you have to defend as a team.”

Robben then gave his thoughts on the prospect of an all-German Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.

“[The final] is going to be a big one. Dortmund have proved over last two to three years they are a very good team.”

Fellow Bayern winger Franck Ribery was equally impressed with the team’s showing against the Catalans and highlighted their team ethic as the side’s key quality.

“Above all, we all work together. We want to do something together and we showed that tonight,” the France international told Canal+.

“We knew that if we defended well, we could score goals.

“Dortmund is a team that is not easy to play against and has a little of our style – it will be a good match.

The France international also expressed his desire to finally get his hands on a Champions League winners medal, having twice been a runner-up.

“I’ve already lost two finals, I do not want to lose a third. We’ll play as we played tonight.”

FCB aptain Philipp Lahm explained that he always thought his team was capable of producing a performance like they did against the Liga leaders.

“It’s not taken for granted to beat Barcelona on their home ground 3-0,” he said.

“But I’ve always said that we have special characters in our squad and that we are capable of great things.”

The Bavarian giants will face Dortmund in the first all-German Champions League final. The match will be held at Wembley on May 25.

A marvellous strike from Arjen Robben put Bayern Munich’s passage into the Champions League final beyond doubt, as the Bavarian side cruised past Barcelona 3-0 in the semi-final second leg to set up a clash with Borussia Dortmund. The Dutchman released a perfect left-footed effort past Victor Valdes, before an own goal from Gerard Pique and Thomas Muller’s strike added insult to injury for the hosts as they crashed out 7-0 on aggregate.

Dealt a severe blow in the build-up to the semi-final with the news that Lionel Messi would not be available from the start, Barcelona nevertheless started positively in their quest to overturn a daunting four-goal deficit and down Bayern. Both teams poured forward in a frenetic first 20 minutes to the encounter, but the energy was not matched by precision in front of goal and there were few clear chances to show for an entertaining beginning.

Barca in particular suffered against a Bayern defence that was organised and committed around the box, and were forced to try their luck from deep. This almost paid off midway through the first half; Pedro let loose with a bomb 35 metres out, that was well parried behind by Manuel Neuer to save an opener. It was also the Catalan side that enjoyed the best opportunity of the opening 45 minutes.

Enjoying a rare moment of space and time on the ball, Dani Alves whipped a cross into the box that found Cesc Fabregas. The ex-Arsenal man did well to chest down to Xavi, who found himself free, but the midfielder uncharacteristically lost his cool and fired his volley well over the crossbar.

Despite these isolated moments of pressure, Die Roten coped well with the hosts’ advances and always looked dangerous breaking from their own half. Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery in particular stood out with all-action performances, stretching the Barca backline albeit without creating too many clear openings before heading in for the interval.

Just three minutes after play recommenced, the game was over as a contest. David Alaba from deep on the left showed terrific vision and matched it in the execution as he changed the direction of play, finding an unmarked Arjen Robben on the other side of the pitch. The Dutchman still had work to do, but was unstoppable as he cut back past the challenge of Adriano and fired left-footed into the corner, leaving Victor Valdes no chance between the posts. The Catalan giants now trailed by five goals, and there appeared to be no hope left of a miracle comeback.

The Blaugrana did not give up after that fatal blow and kept pushing towards goal, but there was no joy for the likes of David Villa as they were suffocated in the final third. Indeed, Bayern were the team that continued to enjoy the best opportunities; Robben side footed wide of the post with the goal in full view, after a storming run down the left from Ribery had spilt open the Liga leaders.

Messi remained on the sidelines throughout the 90 minutes, unused as Tito Vilanova recognised that the game was beyond the reach of his charges. Further confirmation was provided by the hapless Gerard Pique who sliced a cross into his own net with 18 minutes to go. A convincing defeat soon turned into a humilation when Thomas Muller rose to head in the third, putting the Bayern faithful in full voice as they marched into their third Champions League final in four years.

The Bavarians’ dominant 5-0 victory tees up a first-ever all-German final in Europe’s premier club competition, as they prepare to face compatriots Borussia Dortmund in the showpiece. The match is scheduled to take place on May 25 in Wembley.