Bayern Munich loses big at Barcelona, any hope for Champions League final

After Wednesday's 3-0 loss to Barcelona, Bayern Munich is effectively out of the Champions League. Already out of the German Cup, Bayern will only finish with a Bundesliga title, and manager Pep Guardiola's future at the club will be up for debate.

[FC Yahoo: Lionel Messi gives us two more moments to worship him]

Before the first leg of the Champions League semifinal, Guardiola's return to the place where he won 30 trophies as a player and manager dominated discussions. Would Guardiola set up shop in the face of injuries and attempt to escape with a 0-0 draw in the first leg? How would Thiago Alcantara fare against his boyhood club and against his brother? Would Robert Lewandowski play after suffering a concussion, broken nose and broken jaw only a week earlier?

[Slideshow: Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich semifinal first leg]

While all the pregame chatter boiled and mixed, one glaring component of the game appeared to be left out of the pot: Lionel Messi. Prior to the game, the talk surrounding Messi dealt more with the new tattoo he had under his sleeve than the usual tricks he pulls with a football at his feet.

For 75 minutes, Guardiola and Bayern Munich appeared as though they had done well enough to escape the Camp Nou with a nil-nil. Messi had been largely ineffective, though not invisible. While not exactly parking the bus, Bayern had failed to launch a single shot on goal. Another 15 minutes of scoreless football would have set up an exciting second leg at the Allianz Arena, and Guardiola would likely have walked away smiling despite a glaring Lewandowski whiff in the first half.

Had Lewandowski converted, Bayern could have potentially walked away victorious. He did not, but being level at 0-0 after 75 minutes was nothing to scoff at. After all, Barcelona had won its last two matches by an aggregate score of 14-0. A scoreless draw against that team in that stadium would be a grand achievement, and Bayern would enter the second leg favored to advance.

With only 15 minutes to go, Manuel Neuer had earned Man of the Match honors with two unbelievable kick saves and yet another trademark "sweeper keeper" moment. He had dominated Bayern's box and the World Cup-winning goalkeeper looked like he had bested the little Argentine yet again – as he did in the 2014 World Cup final.

But the final 15 minutes offered the purest example of why the little man from Rosario regularly stands taller than anyone else on the pitch.

With two goals in three minutes, Messi had undone 75 minutes of Neuer's brilliance. In three minutes, Bayern went from being favored to advance to on the brink of elimination.

Guardiola understood what was going on better than most. All 14 of his managing trophies with Barcelona had been sprinkled with the special magic of Messi, and the Bayern Munich manager could hardly be surprised at the sight. Only, the Argentine was not yet finished. The 27-year-old found Neymar with a diagonal ball that put the Brazilian in on goal to make it 3-0 Barca in the 94th minute. With two goals and an assist, Messi completed his master-class performance.

Bayern could very well score three times against Barcelona in the second leg in Munich, but one would have a hard time imagining Munich holding Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez scoreless for 90 minutes. The South American trio has combined for 111 goals and over 50 assists this season. One goal for Barcelona would mean Bayern Munich needs five goals to advance. That's just not happening.

After Messi was done cooking on Wednesday night, Bayern Munich was, well, done.

Shahan Ahmed is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. He has previously written about the 2014 World Cup and 2013 Confederations Cup and regularly provides opinions on the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and Spanish La Liga. Follow Shahan on Twitter: @ShahanLA and @perfectpass