The Catalans were beaten to a pulp. Thousands of fans in the stadium in Munich, and several million all over the world closely following every move on television realised something over an hour and a half.
The Catalans were beaten to a pulp. Thousands of fans in the stadium in Munich, and several million all over the world closely following every move on television realised something over an hour and a half. There are days when even Lionel Messi lets you know he is human. Tuesday was one such.
Bayern Munich’s comprehensive win over Barcelona was a triumph of resoluteness over wizardry. It was also an illustration of something we don’t see very often: the (possibly temporary) erasure of the prefix ‘un’ from Untouchables.
Bayern did exactly what Eliot Ness and Jimmy Malone had done to Al Capone in the Brian De Palma film. Ness’ perseverance and Malone’s dedication brought down the ‘invincible’ gangster who had bent the law at will.
Barca had achieved a cult-like status in the last six years. Its value has doubled in the last one year, and is now pegged at $2.6 billion, says Forbes. It is the kind of money that France has pledged to donate annually to contain climate change. Bayern’s net value is only $1,309 m.
To call Barca’s defeat a miracle is belittling Bayern’s feat. A 4-0 win wasn’t a gift from above. It came through hard work. Like the Ness-es and Malones of the world, Bayern too love a good fight. That is because they are fearless, they aren’t scared of losing, and they don’t shy away from hard work. A mean German machine is a tough opponent for a constellation of individual talents.
To Bayern it is, then, a toast. For an evening of surprises and unflinching confidence. They can rest easy. A victory achieved through sweat cannot be taken away easily. They may have broken a few hearts, but for genuine football lovers, it was a game they wouldn’t forget anytime soon.
