BARCA 0- 3 BAYEN FINISH BARCA

OPEN WAY TO WEMBLEY Barcelona 0 Bayern Munich 3 (agg 0-7): No Messi, no comeback as Wembleybe an 

In emphatic, persuasive fashion, Bayern Munich sealed the deal begun by Borussia Dortmund in Madrid on Tuesday as all of last week’s claims about the baton passing from La Liga and the Premier League to the Bundesliga had their credibility enhanced.

Barcelona had needed some sorcery to overcome the 4-0 lead Bayern raced to in the first leg but for magic you need a magician, and Lionel Messi was on the bench.

Wembley, here we come: Arjen Robben (centre) celebrates after opening the scoring at the Nou Camp

Fussball's coming home: Bayern secured an all-German Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund

No stopping that: Robben (out of picture, right) cut inside and curled a brilliant finish into the far corner

Hamstrung: Lionel Messi (right) was left on the bench despite Barca's need to overturn a four-goal deficit

But those two were substituted shortly after Arjen Robben had made the aggregate scoreline 5-0 in the 48th minute. Without Messi any team would be inferior and it is no different for Barcelona, even if they still had Xavi and Andres Iniesta. 

Gerard Pique then scored an own goal and Thomas Muller’s header made it 3-0 on the night with 15 minutes left. The Nou Camp has witnessed teams being outplayed many times — just not Barca. Indeed, it is the first time their side have lost both legs of a European tie since 1987, when the opponents were Dundee United.

Bayern looked a good team last season in reaching the Champions League final on their own turf. Now they look very good. Strong and skilful, quick but patient, Bastian Schweinsteiger personifies the Jupp Heynckes team soon to be taken over by Pep Guardiola. Schweinsteiger was immense.

This will be their third final in four years and after defeats by Inter Milan and Chelsea, there will surely be belief that this is their year. They last won the European Cup 12 years ago, beating Valencia on penalties.

That's all we kneed: Gerard Pique (third right) scored an embarrassing own goal in the second half

Hang your head: Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes screams in frustration after Pique's gaffe

Salt in the wounds: Bayern's Thomas Muller (centre left) headed in a third goal late on

The warm Catalan day began with optimism: Barca had to cancel out a four-goal lead just to take the game to extra-time, but the statistics said that on 84 occasions in the last four seasons Barcelona had scored four. Moreover, 59 of those had been at the Nou Camp and 14 in the Champions League.

Against that was the ominous record of Bayern: it was over a year since they last failed to score on the road. And that was before the Messi news. If as Pique said on Tuesday, ‘football is very psychological’, it was advantage Bavaria before a ball was kicked.

'Proud of Barca!': Barcelona's fans packed out the Nou Camp in the hope of seeing a comeback