Barcelona's top stars were stunned on and off the pitch in the team's 4-0 thumping against Bayern Munich in the Champions league semifinals. The 4-0 defeat leaves them in a difficult state as they must equal that score in order to extend the battle to an extra frame. Despite their best intentions many players think a comeback is impossible.
"We need to play a great game, but we know at the same time that it's practically impossible," said Captain and midfielder Xavi Hernandez. "They were stronger than us. I don't know why we didn't attack well. They have extraordinary players like Robben and they just found it too easy to get past us."
Despite Xavi's lack of enthusiasm, defender Dani Alves harbors some hope. "It will be very difficult. We've got to come back from 4-0 down and that will be very tough, but we'll give it everything and leave with our heads held high and knowing we've done our best," he said. "For now we have to congratulate our opponents. They played with far greater intensity than we did."
The match featured a seemingly ill-fit Lionel Messi. The Argentine superstar, who was coming back from a hamstring injury, barely touched the ball and when he did he had no space with which to operate. "We need to pick ourselves up, try and finish things off in the league and then try and turn this tie around. They were a lot stronger than us - physically superior in fact," he said. "It's a pity what happened but we have to go on. We have to lift ourselves for the second leg and the Liga. We will look to bounce back from this."
Barcelona came back from 2-0 deficit in the Round of 16 against AC Milan. They became the first team in Champions league history to win in the knockout stage without scoring an away goal in an opening game loss. If they are in fact the team of destiny, they will need to match that effort in their next match.