Barcelona "hit rock bottom" in an 8-2 humiliation by Bayern Munich

"It's a disastrous result," says Gerard Pique. "An embarrassment, that's the word."

Lionel Messi of cuts a dejected figure during Barcelona's 8-2 humiliation by Bayern Munich. Picture: Manu Fernandez/Getty Images

The post-mortem from Gerard Pique was as brutal as the humiliation dished to Barcelona by Bayern Munich.

"It's a disastrous result," the defender said. "An embarrassment, that's the word."

The numbers were 8-2.

Bayern Munich's Philippe Coutinho - on loan from Barcelona - scores the eighth goal against his parent club. Picture: AFP via Getty Images

Another number? 74. It's that many years since Barcelona conceded as many goals in a game.

"We have hit rock bottom," Pique said in a television interview on the pitch after Friday's loss dumped the five-time winners out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals.

Unlike the capitulations in the previous two seasons - against Roma and Liverpool - there was no first-leg lead to throw away in the competition.

Not even Lionel Messi could save Barcelona at the end of a season in which he has seemed increasingly agitated by the disarray.

This was a night of utter misery in Lisbon in the pandemic-enforced single-game reformatting of a knockout stage that has never a seen a team lose so heavily in the Champions League era.

If it wasn't embarrassing enough, Barcelona had to watch Philippe Coutinho inflict the final blows and make the collapse all the more painful.

Bayern was already cruising into the semi-finals with a 5-2 lead when Coutinho was sent on for the final 15 minutes.

The Brazilian found time for an assist - pinging the ball to the head of the unmarked Robert Lewandowski - and then to score twice himself against a goalkeeper he knows so well.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen is still Coutinho's teammate. The 160 million euros forward remains not only Barca's record signing but still their player. He's only on loan at Bayern for this season after struggling to settle at the parent club he joined from Liverpool in 2018 as the supposed heir to Andres Iniesta.

He never even had a chance to work under head coach Quique Setien, who was hired in January to replace Ernesto Valverde.

It's hard to see Setien getting a full season in charge now after Barcelona finished a campaign trophyless for the first time since 2008 - right before Pep Guardiola took charge and ushered in an era of dominance.

"We need new blood," Pique said, without discussing specifics. "There need to be changes at all levels."

Setien knows Pique's assessment will resonate across the club.

"I've been here for just a few months," he said. "If Gerard says that it's time for big changes there's going to be importance to his words. It's time for us to review and take the decisions which are needed for the future."

A future that probably won't include Setien.

"Some decisions were already taken, and others will be taken as a result of this," Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu said. "From next week they'll be worked through. Right now isn't the time to make knee-jerk decisions, it's time to think."

It was a mesmerising performance from Bayern, helped by a defensive horror show from the Catalan side, as a brace from Thomas Muller was complemented by goals from Ivan Perisic and Serge Gnabry put them 4-1 up at the break.

Josh Kimmich, Robert Lewandowski and the brace from Coutinho inflicted a heaviest ever European defeat on Barcelona as Hansi Flick’s side ran riot.

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