Munich, Germany--Neymar struck twice as Barcelona reached the Champions League final by beating Bayern Munich 5-3 on aggregate in their semi-final despite losing Tuesday's second-leg 3-2 at the Allianz Arena.
Luis Enrique's Barca survived a Bayern second-half fightback to keep alive their treble dreams as they close in on winning the Spanish league and face Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Cup final on May 30.
"It's a great achievement to reach the final," said Enrique, whose side has still yet to win in Munich despite five attempts.
"We forced the opponent to attack us, so we took some risks.
"Bayern were very physical, especially in the second half, they really wanted to turn it around.
"I am very satisfied with the performance of my players, the whole team deserved the victory and we have to enjoy this."
In contrast, Pep Guardiola's Bayern bowed out at the last-four stage for the second year running, despite ending Barcelona's 18-game unbeaten run.
Bayern were facing what looked like an impossible task after going down 3-0 in last week's first leg at the Camp Nou, but they were given an early glimmer of hope in the return when the unmarked Medhi Benatia headed home on seven minutes.
However, the final outcome of the tie was put beyond doubt when Luis Suarez twice set up Neymar to score for the visitors before half an hour had been played.
Bayern produced a rousing second-half performance and goals from Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller allowed them to win the game on the night, but Barcelona advance to the final in Berlin on June 6, where they will face either bitter rivals Real Madrid or Juventus.
AFP
