By David Lee Wheatley
The glamour friendly between Bayern and Barcelona at the Allianz Arena kicked-off late due to traffic problems around Munich causing a slight delay to proceedings.
Shorn of their head coach Tito Vilanova, Barça faced up to the prospect of seeing former mentor Pep Guardiola sitting in the opposition dug-out.
Though Vilanova's replacement Gerardo Martino had been installed before the tie, it was decided he would take up his duties today, leaving Jordi Roura in temporary charge of the side.
Barcelona lined up without several star names, due to their choosing to leave out international players who featured for Spain and Brazil during the Confederations' Cup tournament held beyond the climax of the league season.
Bayern, by contrast, settled on a strong starting eleven and set out in the familiar Guardiola formation of 4-3-3 with a false number nine, just as Barcelona still employ.
In the early exchanges, Barcelona looked dangerous in their Catalan flag away shirt, the diminutive Lionel Messi sending a shot just wide of the left-hand upright after only 30 seconds.
However, Bayern came back when Toni Kroos forced Pinto into a smart save in the 3rd minute with a powerful low strike, which was beaten away by the Barça reserve keeper. Only a minute later Robben looked odds-on to score, but defender Adriano got across to deflect away his effort following great work on the left from Ribery. The French international was involved in everything, going through the middle before setting Alaba free on the left edge of the penalty area, but the Austrian hit the ball straight at Pinto.
There was no let-up from the European champions, as Ribery stood-up a great floating cross for the onrushing Lahm. Often a full-back, Lahm occupied a midfield berth last night and it paid dividends when his back-header gifted the Bavarians a 14th-minute lead.
At the other end, a long spell of Barça possession led eventually to a great chance for youngster Sergio Roberto, but he seemed to flinch when Neuer approached and toe-poked his effort wide.
It was very much a case of role-reversal when compared to Pep's days at Camp Nou; the sharp movement and incisive passing coming from Bayern amid slow, deliberate play from the visitors.
Strong penalty claims were turned down when danger-man Ribery got bundled over by Bartra after 21 minutes, but the referee was having none of it. Just a minute on, Muller clipped the top of the crossbar with a neatly-lofted ping at goal.
Barcelona almost levelled when Tello sent a low, curving 20-yarder just right of goal on 38 minutes and five minutes later Alexis Sanchez dinked a seemingly harmless cross from the right, but Munich defender Rafinha chested it down on to his own post. Luckily, it bounced out for a corner kick. Barcelona were beginning to look more like the best version of themselves once again.
After a raft of substitutions from both sides, the second period got off to a sedate start with Barcelona slowing the action down substantially.
It was Ribery again causing havoc to engineer the first real opportunity of the second half after 56 minutes when the winger cut inside, then out, to create space enough to get a shot off. His attempt only found the arms of the grateful goalkeeper Oier, on for Pinto. Shortly afterwards, a Lahm pass from the right located former Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara free in space against his old team, but he couldn't quite get the ball out of his feet allowing the defence to block.
Due to some dallying in their own 18-yard area, Barça stupidly lost control of the ball to Ribery, who played the ball back across goal from the Bayern right to sub Mandzukic. The Croatian striker fired a powerful hit to the keeper's left, but Oier was equal to it.
Bayern, in their blue change strip, were taking the game by the scruff of the neck and Barça seemed devoid of ideas with which to respond; lots of possession short of the final third often amounting to nothing.
Powerhouse Bayern midfielder Schweinsteiger entered the fray in the 68th minute, but must feel a tad concerned about his position in the squad with the level of competition now in place at the club. On top of those who started the game, there's also starlet Mario Gotze waiting in the wings for a slot in the middle of the park.
The contest was effectively over when striker Mandzukic put the seal on victory from point-blank range following a fine right-wing cross by Contento with four minutes of normal time remaining.
It'd be wrong to read too much into the result, as Barça were missing numerous mainstays of the first-team and therefore were at a disadvantage from the outset. But, the German juggernaut looks set to steam on through to another campaign of great success under Guardiola on this evidence.
Bayern line-up R-L: Neuer; Rafinha, Boateng, Dante, Alaba; Kroos, Thiago, Lahm; Robben, Muller, Ribery.
Barcelona line-up R-L: Pinto; Montoya, Bartra, Mascherano, Adriano; Dos Santos, Song, Roberto; Alexis, Messi, Tello.
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