Barcelona 'are not the best any more', admits Gerard Piqué

Gerard Piqué shows his disappointment after scoring an own goal in Barcelona's 3-0 home defeat. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

A humbling night for Barcelona ended with their manager, Tito Vilanova, saying there was no need for major changes in the summer but the first admission from within his own dressing room that the most celebrated team on the planet cannot continue being so over-reliant on Lionel Messi.

Messi stayed on the bench, still struggling for fitness after his recent hamstring injury, as Barcelona went down to a demoralising 3-0 defeat and Bayern Munich confirmed their place in the Champions League final with an aggregate 7-0 win.

Sandro Rosell, the Barcelona president, summed it up when he congratulated Bayern as being "clearly superior", while Vilanova tried to blame the two performances on injuries to key players. "Every squad needs to be changed to some degree, but we have a good squad," Vilanova said. "We don't need a lot of changes."

Yet that was followed by Dani Alves, the Barcelona right-back, saying the club would have to look closely into the reasons why they have suffered so badly against the Bundesliga champions. "We have arrived at this stage of the season not in a good physical condition and we need to look at our options without Messi. We have to reflect, improve and congratulate Bayern."

Gerard Piqué, his defensive colleague, added: "We have to make some decisions in the summer. We are not the best any more. Other teams are. Perhaps we need to work harder. That was hard out there – a bitterly disappointing night."

Bayern took the lead through Arjen Robben's goal early in the second half before going further ahead through Piqué's own goal and Thomas Müller's header four minutes later.

"My team were very focused," the Bayern manager, Jupp Heynckes, said. "We knew what we were up against. We played an outstanding game. There is a difference of Barça with and without Messi but it is still a result no one could have forecast."

The win confirms an all-German final against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on 25 May and is the first time in the Champions League era that Barcelona have lost both legs of one tie.

Cesc Fábregas would later describe Bayern as "physically like beasts". Barça, he said, were "very hurt – nobody likes to lose, but especially in this way."

Bayern are now in their third final in four years and Heynckes drew on the memory of what happened last year against Chelsea. "After that final we were devastated but the very next morning we set out to put it right and make sure we were back in this position the following year."

Robben added: "It [the final] is going to be a big one. Dortmund have proved over the last three years they are a very good side. It's going to be decided on small details. It's the third time in the last four years for us and it's time to win it now."

Messi's absence, according to Vilanova, was due to a lack of fitness and the fear he could suffer a new injury rather than a recurrence of the problem he suffered in the first leg of the quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain.

"When we heard Messi wouldn't play, we were relieved," Javi Martínez, the Bayern midfielder, admitted. "He's the best player in the world, he can win a game on his own."

Yet Piqué, reflecting on "possibly the worst night of my career", said he did not believe Messi's absence was the only reason they lost. "Clearly it isn't the same when you are missing without the best player in the world but I don't think that whether Leo played or not influenced the result," he said.

"Once they scored the first goal it knocked our morale. It isn't very nice to have to experience something like this but when a team is so superior you have to congratulate them."

Robben added: "It's a terrific performance; a little bit of history, maybe. We were playing against a team who have dominated in Europe over the last five years. They have so much quality in their squad. If you win 4-0, and 3-0 away, especially in their own stadium, it's amazing."

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