Barcelona were supposed to provide Bayern Munich the ultimate measure of their greatness this season.
Boy oh boy did they come out of that test with flying colors. Bayern Munich absolutely creamed Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of the semifinals of the Champions League to plant a foot-and-three-fourths in the final at Wembley.
The German machines were at their ruthless best, as a double from Thomas Muller and one goal apiece courtesy Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben gave Bayern an unbelievable result against the Spanish giants, with the second leg at the Camp Nou now looking academic.
Tito Vilanova expectedly named Lionel Messi in the starting lineup, while youngster Marc Bartra was given the chance to shine at the back alongside Gerard Pique.
Bayern only had one surprise inclusion, with Jerome Boateng slotting in at center-back instead of Daniel Van Buyten, probably for his superior pace.
In a game that was akin to a game of speed chess of incredible technical ability, the home side always seemed like the more dangerous team going forward, with Arjen Robben testing Victor Valdes with a nice strike early on after swapping passes with the excellent Javi Martinez.
While Barcelona were having the majority of the possession, Bayern were having more of the quality possession, with their interplay a lot better to watch and a lot more effective than Barcelona, who were really finding it difficult to inject pace into their attacks.
Messi just did not look fit enough to make an impact against arguably the best side in Europe at the moment, as the Argentine kept seeing the ball taken off his feet time after time.
The game was just growing into a fascinating technical battle, with Barcelona looking a little rattled by Bayern's high-energy game.
Bayern had a couple of handball appeals for penalties in the first half turned down, with the ball striking the arms of Pique and Alexis Sanchez. However, in between the two appeals, Bayern took the lead, and a fully deserved one at that.
Robben floated in a cross towards the far post, which Dante won with great vigor. Thomas Muller was the quickest to react to the knockdown from his teammate, heading it past Valdes in the 25th minute.
Pedro nearly created the opening for Barcelona's equalizer immediately after the opener at the other end, but Dante got a crucial touch to push the ball away for a corner, with Messi lurking just behind looking for a tap-in.
Bayern went into the break looking like the supremely confident side everyone has witnessed throughout this season, and four minutes into the second period, they doubled their lead in almost identical circumstances.
A corner saw Muller this time head at the far post, with Gomez having the simple task of slotting into an empty net - there were suspicions of offside, but it was extremely close and could have gone either way.
Messi was almost a passenger for Barcelona, the Argentine, clearly not even remotely 100 percent fit, struggling to cope with the high-tempo game.
Robben, off another quick attack, released Franck Ribery, whose cross-shot just whistled wide of the post.
The Dutch winger came close off a header from a corner, before he was celebrating a stunning solo goal in the 73rd minute. Robben ran into the box from the right, getting past Jordi Alba, who was then taken out of the reckoning by a bodycheck from Muller - which should have really been given. The former Real Madrid man composed himself before curling a delightful strike past Valdes from a tight angle.
Muller nearly made it four, but Valdes came up with a brilliant save. But, two minutes later in the 82nd, Bayern were an unbelievable 4-0 ahead of Barcelona.
Bastian Schweinsteiger sprayed a pass to Ribery, who waited nicely before feeding left-back David Alaba. The defender then crossed perfectly for Muller to tap in at the near post, as Bayern celebrated a perfect 90 minutes.
