Olympiacos succumb in Munich
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - GROUP B (MATCHDAY 4)
Robert Lewandowski and Ivan Perisic scored the goals as Bayern Munich defeated Olympiacos 2-0 at the Allianz Arena in Germany on Wednesday to secure their place in the Champions League Round of 16.
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The 31-year-old Polish striker Lewandowski struck his sixth goal in four Group B matches to finally open the scoring after Olympiacos had produced a backs-to-the-wall defensive display, and substitute Perisic added a second a minute before the end of normal time to rubber-stamp the victory.
It represented a debut win for caretaker coach Hans-Dieter Flick, who has taken the reins temporarily in the wake of Robert Kovac’s recent sacking.
For Olympiacos, who have just one point after four games and lie at the bottom of the group, they must look to try and collect as many points as possible from their final two matches in order to have a hope of clinching third place which would mean a spot in the Europa League.
Red Star will host Tottenham at 22:00 in Group B’s other fixture.
THE MATCH
The German giants were the overwhelming favorites to win this Group B clash, despite hitting the skids domestically ahead of this match. Coming off of a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt at the weekend which saw the end of Niko Kovac’s tenure as coach, all eyes were on how Bayern would react.
Olympiacos coach Pedro Martins gave Lazar Randjelovic his first start in a Champions League match. The 22-year-old Serbian attacking had delivered a man of the match performance in the home leg of the Krasnodar play-off, scoring twice, but until tonight had only appeared as a sub.
Randjelovic's start meant that Giorgos Masouras remained on the bench, alongside Mathieu Valbuena. Martins opted for containment, and fielded, as expected, three holding midfielders – Guilherme, Bouchalakis and Camara.
That tactic invited Bayern forward and the home side lay siege to the Olympiacos goal in the opening 45 minutes, but despite dominating possession, there were only three clear cut chances for the German side.
The first came from Kingsley Coman’s solo effort after 34 minutes, with Olympiacos’ impressive goalkeeper Jose Sa producing a superb save from the Frenchman.
A minute later and Thomas Müller was next to try his luck. The German international fired in a powerful strike, but it wasn’t good enough to beat Sa.
Frustration was starting to grow among the home crowd, and this was intensified on 44 minutes when Benjamin Pavard hit the woodwork. The French defender outjumped his markers at the front post, but his glanced effort was denied by the upright.
For Olympiacos, the opening 45 minutes offered little in the way of attacking threat, with the visitors trying to soak up pressure and then press as high up the pitch as possible to break. Winger Daniel Podence found himself shut down by two markers, while Lazar Randjelovic did not see much of the ball in his isolated role as a lone striker.
The pattern of play continued much the same in the second half, only this time it seemed Bayern were finding their killer final passes and only the brilliance of Sa was keeping the Germans at bay.
The Portuguese goalkeeper pulled off a superb point-blank stop to deny Javi Martínez five minutes after the restart after Lewandowski had flicked on a free-kick.
Then, 10 minutes later, Sa was called upon once more to deny another effort from Conan, who wriggled free of his market Kostas Tsimikas before firing in a shot which Sa parried to safety at full stretch.
Sa was putting in an incredible shift between the posts, but as Bayern further piled on the pressure, he was finally beaten in the 69th minute when Conan’s cross was directed past him by Lewandowski.
Perisic then made it 2-0 on 89 minutes when he slotted home after the ball was deflected into his path following some scruffy Olympiaos defending.
STARTING LINEUPS
Bayern: 1 Neuer (GK)(C), 5 Pavard, 8 Javi Martínez, 9 Lewandowski, 18 Goretzka, 19 Davies, 22 Gnabry, 25 Müller, 27 Alaba, 29 Coman, 32 Kimmich
Olympiacos: 1 José Sá (GK), 3 Rúben Semedo, 4 Camara, 5 Bouchalakis, 8 Guilherme, 9 Guerrero, 10 Podence, 14 Elabdellaoui ©, 20 Meriah, 21 Tsimikas, 97 Randjelovic
GROUP B Standings
Bayern Munich 12 pts
Tottenham 7 pts
Red Star 3 pts
Olympiacos 1 pt
