It was not a brilliant idea, but it was enough to win. Bayern have won at Olympiakos Piraeus 3: 2 (1: 1) and thus maintained his perfect record in this Champions League season in the third game. Again it was center forward Robert Lewandowski, who caused with his hits for the success.
Bayern coach Niko Kovac had ordered Thomas Müller after the disappointing Bundesliga games against Hoffenheim and Augsburg this time in the starting eleven. The use of Müller was in the public last often been demanded, Kovac stressed before the game, however, that there had been "no influence from outside" in the lineup.
In central defense, he hired Frenchman Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernández to fill the gap left by Niklas Süle, who had been missing out for months on an ankle ligament rupture. The changes made as noticeable as the lack of self-confidence after the last games: The Bayern began nervously, uncertain, with many offenses.
Leadership with the first chance to score
Nevertheless, the leadership of the Greeks came as a surprise: With his first goal chance, Olympiakos scored the 1: 0 by Youssef El-Arabi. The attacker profited in the header of the fact that the Bayern defense acted in this situation too careless. Joshua Kimmich could not prevent the flank, in the defensive center Hernández made an unhappy figure. Manuel Neuer got El-Arabis head kick behind the goal line. The goalkeeper completed his 103rd Champions League match and has caught up with Oliver Kahn.
Bayern then looked even more headless, had almost the 0-2 conceded, but then caught again. And rewarded themselves with the equalizer in the 34th minute. A cross from Javi Martínez caught Thomas Müller in the penalty area. Piraeus keeper José Sa was only able to squeeze the shot, the ball fell to the feet of Robert Lewandowski, who carried out to a 1: 1 break.
After the change, the Greeks got off to a better start, this time the Bavarians came out of nowhere. In the 62nd minute, of course, Lewandowski poked the ball to the lead after a corner over the line. It was already the fifth goal of Poland in this Champions League season.
Tremble until the end
Even after that, the German record champion was difficult. It all seemed clear after 75 minutes when substitute Corentin Tolisso scored the 3-1 win with a long-range effort. But the joy lasted only four minutes, then shortened the Brazilian Guilherme to 2: 3. The final minutes were a shiver, but the Bayern survived without damage.
However, the success was clouded by two factors: Before the game, Greek hooligans had massively rampaged in the Youth League duel between Olympiakos and Bayern. In addition, Hernandez had to leave the field injured early in the second half - after Süle announces the second central defender within days.
Olympiacos Piraeus - Bayern Munich 2: 3 (1: 1)
1: 0 El Arabi (23)
1: 1 Lewandowski (34.)
1: 2 Lewandowski (62nd)
1: 3 Tolisso (75th)
2: 3 Guilherme (79.)
Piraeus: José Sa - Elabdellaoui, Rúben Semedo, Meriah, Tsimikas - Guilherme - Podence, Bouchalakis (69th Lovera), Camara (88th Randjelovic), Masouras (79th Guerrero) - El-Arabi
Munich: New - Kimmich, Pavard, Hernández (59th Boateng), Alaba - Martínez (46th Tolisso) - Müller (86th Perisic), Thiago, Coutinho, Gnabry - Lewandowski
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)
Yellow cards: Rúben Semedo, El-Arabi / Thiago, Neuer
Spectators: 30,000