There was a certain sense of inevitability that hung in the air at the Camp Nou. Bayern Munich winger Sadio Mané scored the opener in the ninth minute and hardly celebrated. A second went in in the 31st minute and all was already lost. The 84,000 supporters had seen this script play out before: Mighty FC Barcelona was simply not good enough against the German club.
That didn’t stop the jeers from raining down at full time of Barca’s 3–0 loss, and it certainly didn’t ease the sting of what was a defeat of massive importance. Barcelona was out of the Champions League before the knockout stage in a season it needed to reach it more than any other.