Ten-man Bayern Munich eased into the Champions League knockout stages after demolishing Greece’s Olympiakos Piraeus 4-0 on Tuesday to secure top spot in Group F with a game to spare.
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Despite Olympiacos’ numerical advantage, Bayern added a fourth in the 70th minute when Coman latched onto Muller’s header before bravely nodding in from close range, taking a knock from shot-stopper Jimenez in the process.
“We now have the Champions League in the bag until February”, Guardiola told reporters. “Winning the group was the team’s main target – it’s what we’ve pursued from match to match”, concurred Jérôme Boateng.
Of those goals, 14 were scored in Munich, nine of them in the first half, with Bayern getting their first no later than the 13th minute as they put Dinamo Zagreb, Arsenal and Olympiacos out of sight within the opening half hour.
But Sammer said he disagreed with Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson’s decision to show Badstuber a straight red for bringing down Nigeria global Brown Ideye, who was through on goal, with 53 minutes gone.
Meanwhile, Olympiakos remain second in the group, and a draw at home to Arsenal in a fortnight will guarantee that they go through at the English side’s expense.
“This should be a lesson for us”, warned Bayern coach Pep Guardiola of the unnecessary foul by Badstuber.
Arjen Robben set up Muller’s goal before being replaced in the first half, though Guardiola alleviated any fears over the Dutchman’s fitness.
Olympiakos, who had won their previous three group games, had to wait until the 44th for their first chance, with Luka Milivojevic sending a free kick wide.
Robert Lewandowski just can’t stop scoring. “It’ll be much tighter once we get to the quarters and semis, but we’re well on track”. “It’s a risk, but if we are able to control the game, we can play with five attacking players like we did tonight”.
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Oleg Shatov gave the home side the lead after a quarter of an hour and the prolific Artem Dzyuba secured the points in the second half before Valencia defender Ruben Vezo was sent off.
