Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images

The Bavarians held the upper hand at times in the Battle of the High Lines...but the visitors blinked first, and often. Bayern Munich?s Champions League tilt against FC Barcelona this Wednesday was a spectacular game of cat-and-mouse ? one in which the Bavarians even held a clear upper hand, for a spell.
So how did Bayern end up as helpless prey ? and 4-1 losers ? in the clutches of former coach Hansi Flick and a rampant Barça side"
Let?s review.
Barça rolls the dice?and wins
It?s hard to believe, but this is only Year One of the Flick era at Barcelona. The former Bayern and Germany men?s national team coach has the help of an impressive stable of La Masia talent, but that isn?t all. Under Flick, the transformation has been instantaneous. This edition of the Barça team presses relentlessly, and pushes the defensive line up to the half to compensate. That left ample space in behind, which the Bavarians seemed to salivate immediately at the possibility to punish. And that, in turn, left space behind on the other side...with the two teams posing the question to one another: who will get punished first"
As it happened, it was Bayern who got hit inside of one minute. Joshua Kimmich is a step late and a step wrong in reacting and Raphinha gets the better of him:

TUDN/YouTube
One steps up, the other retreats: Bayern center-back Dayot Upamecano and midfielder Joshua Kimmich have to coordi...