5 best Champions League matches between FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich

FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich have met 13 times in the UEFA Champions League. Though the Bavarians have the lion's share in case of winning in these encounters, a Barcelona and Bayern clash has never been anything short of a nail-biting thriller. From dominating scorelines to neck-to-neck fights, this fixture always draws the attention of football fans all over the globe. 

The two long-standing rivals are going to set the pitch on fire again on the occasion of the UCL 2024-25 league game tonight and we all can expect another folkloric battle to remember through ages. 

Ahead of tonight's match, Sportzpoint has selected the 5 best Champions League matches between FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

1. FC Barcelona 4-0 Bayern Munich | UCL 2008-09

No Barca fan can ever and will ever forget Barcelona's monumental UCL run in the 2008-09 season when they were crowned champions and later won all six trophies at the end of the season to complete the Sextuple. Pep Guardiola and co. announced the Catalan dominance in style to the world from this season. 

However, FC Barcelona met their arch-rivals Bayern Munich in the quarter-final tie of the UCl and the German side traveled to Camp Nou to play the first leg on 9th April 2009. FC Barcelona scored all 4 goals in the first half to completely dismantle Bayern's resistance.

Barça 4-0 Bayern

📅 8/4/2009

⚽️ Messi (x2), Eto'o and Henry pic.twitter.com/xmUT70xUzq

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 8, 2024

A 21-year-old Lionel Messi scored a first-half brace in the 9th and 38th minute, and he was accompanied by Samuel Eto'o who scored in the 17th minute, and Thierry Henry who extended the lead by scoring in the 43rd minute. 

It was a supreme attacking performance by Barcelona who had 7 on-target shots and 12 corners throughout the match. The Jurgen Klinsmann-coached Bayern held Barcelona to a 1-1 draw in the second leg in the Allianz Arena but Barcelona progressed to the semi-finals.  

2. Bayern Munich 4-0 FC Barcelona | 2012-13

Bayern Munich took revenge for their 2009 defeat against Barcelona in the best possible way in the 2012-13 UCL semi-finals by humiliating them by 7-0 in aggregate over two legs. Bayern Munich went on to win the Champions League this season under manager Jupp Heynckes who led Bayern to the UCL glory in his last season at the German club. 

Barcelona faced Bayern in the Allianz Arena on 24 April 2009 in the first leg of the highly-anticipated tie. Thomas Muller opened the scoring for Bayern in the 25th minute. The first half ended with a 1-0 scoreline favoring Bayern.

🔜 #FCBFCB ⏳

🔙 in 2013: @FCBayern Gala in Barcelona ⚽️⚽️⚽️#UCL | @FCBayernEN | @FCBayernES pic.twitter.com/nGfj5tUTYB

— UEFA.com DE (@UEFAcom_de) October 23, 2024

TheBavarians completely destroyed the Catalan side in the second half. Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben scored in the 49th and 73rd minute respectively. Muller scored his second in the 82nd minute and Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova had nothing to reply with. 

This was Barca's worst UCL defeat since 1997. Bayern crushed Barcelona 3-0 in the second tie as well and shocked the world by winning this tie in a complete one-sided manner and with a 7-0 aggregate. 

3. Barcelona 3-0 Bayern Munich | 2014-15

The moment of Messi nutmegging Jerome Boateng has mostly etched this match in every football fan's memory. However, this match remained iconic ever since it was played at the Camp Nou on May 6, 2015.

FC Barcelona was set to face Guardiola-coached Bayern Munich in the 2014-15 UCL semi-final tie. In the first leg, it took 77 minutes for Barcelona to break the deadlock as Lionel Messi took an exquisite strike to heroically beat Manuel Neuer in Bayern's goal. Only 3 minutes later, Messi nutmegged Boateng and left him grounded in the box, and chipped the ball inside to double Barca's lead. Neymar Jr. scored the third goal from Messi's assist in the 4th minute of the injury time. 

🔴 17e : Messi fait tomber Boateng (2015)

En demi-finales de la Ligue des champions, Lionel Messi humilie Jérôme Boateng avant d'ajuster Manuel Neuer. Et de mettre le Barça sur la voie de sa première finale depuis 2011.#MomentsOfTheDecade pic.twitter.com/fXI51lC4OT

— Actu Foot (@ActuFoot_) December 31, 2019

Guardiola's return to the Camp Nou was far from memorable, as Bayern Munich held Barcelona back from scoring for 77 minutes but Guardiola's men failed to register a single shot on target out of 8 shots taken in the first leg. 

Barcelona knocked Bayern out of the tournament and progressed to the Final to be the eventual Champions of the 2014-15 UCL. This was coach Luis Enrique's first and only UCL victory with the Catalan side. 

4. Bayern Munich 3-2 FC Barcelona | 2014-15

Barcelona came to Munich to take on Bayern again in the second leg of the 2014-15 UCL semi-final after Barcelona almost sealed their qualification to the final by beating Bayern 3-0 in the first leg. However, Bayern gave a tough fight to the Catalan side at their home and this 5-goal thriller is one of the most iconic and memorable battles between these two teams. 

Mehdi Benatia scored an early goal in the 7th minute to put pressure on the Visitors as gave the lead to Bayern. But it did not take long for Barcelona to reply strongly, as Neymar Jr. equalized quickly in the 15th minute and he also scored his second in the 29th minute. Barcelona entered the half-time break with a 2-1 lead but the aggregate was in favour of Barcelona by 5-1. 

[MATCH REPORT] FC Bayern Munich – FC Barcelona: Berlin bound for the CL final l! (3-2) http://t.co/rvgPehrwGd pic.twitter.com/Yeq2AkoYTz

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 12, 2015

However, Robert Lewandowski scored in the 59th minute to equalize for Bayern and they started to push harder for another. Bayern Munich took a massive 20 shots throughout the game and 8 of them were on target. Bayern's continuous effort resulted in another goal that came from Thomas Muller in the 74th minute but nothing was enough to snatch the UCL Final's ticket from Barcelona.

4. Bayern Munich 8-2 FC Barcelona | 2019-20

UEFA reduced the two-legged knock-outs in single-legged matches in the 2019-20 season due to the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020. A lackluster FC Barcelona met a high-flying Bayern Munich in the quarter-final this season and what happened afterward will forever haunt the Barcelona fans. 

Barcelona and Bayern met at the Estadio SL Benfica on 14th August 2020 for the quarter-final. Thomas Muller drew the first blood in the 4th minute but David Alaba's own goal in the 7th minute pulled one back for Barcelona. however, it did not help Barcelona at all as they were absolutely destroyed by Bayern in the very first half. Bayern entered the half-time break with a 4-1 scoreline as Ivan Perisic, Serge Gnabry, and Thomas Muller again, scored in the 22nd, 27th, and 31st minute respectively. 

The Catalans had a slight hope as Luis Suarez netted the second for Barca in the 57th minute but Bayern became more and more ruthless. Joshua Kimmich scored in the 63rd minute and Robert Lewandowski scored his team's sixth in the 82nd minute. Barcelona's horrifying nightmare continued as Barca's loanee Philippe Coutinho scored twice in the 85th and 89th minute to settle the scoreline to 8-2 against his mother club. 

Barcelona manager Quique Setien was sacked after this severe humiliation. However, the current Barcelona coach Hansi Flick was Bayern's coach at this time and he eventually led Bayern to the 2019-20 UCL victory.