Bayern Munich made a commanding start to their UEFA Champions League quest with a 2-0 win over Roma.
Last season's runners-up off and running in Group E
Bayern Munich made a commanding start to their UEFA Champions League quest with a 2-0 win over Roma.
The German champions went all the way to the final last season before falling to Inter Milan, but they exacted revenge on another Italian club thanks to late goals from Thomas Muller and Miroslav Klose.
Louis van Gaal's side struggled to break down the Serie A bridesmaids in the first half but an utterly dominant second period saw them make a winning start to their Group E campaign, which also contains Basel and Cluj.
It was Claudio Ranieri's visitors who enjoyed a bright start at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday as Marco Cassetti had Bayern goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt scrambling as his deflected curler flashed narrowly wide of the far post on six minutes.
Ivica Olic was a thorn in the defences of Manchester United and Lyon during their European run last season.
But the Croatian striker was a nuisance to Toni Kroos as he stole the ball from his team-mate when the attacking midfielder was poised to latch onto Philipp Lahm's low cross into the box midway in the first half.
Bayern were seeing plenty of the ball but found it increasingly difficult to break down their Italian opponents, who were organised and resolute.
And it came as no surprise that the Germans resorted to long distance shots but efforts from Lahm, Kroos and winger Hamit Altintop failed to trouble Roma goalkeeper Julio Sergio.
Opposing number Butt was rarely troubled in the opening half, but the German international was forced into action five minutes before the interval with a smart stop from Marco Borriello's deflected shot.
Grilling
Bayern came out with more purpose in the second period, showing the effects of a half-time grilling from coach Van Gaal and it was Kroos who forced a fine fingertip save from Sergio as he fashioned a right-foot drive 10 minutes after the restart.
And the Bundesliga champions nearly grabbed the lead a minute later as another Kroos' long-ranger fell into the path of Muller, who smashed one from close-range but Sergio managed to beat it away and keep Roma's head above water.
Van Gaal turned to his bench as he hurled strike duo Mario Gomez and Klose to get a goal for the Germans but it was Muller who came up trumps with a stunning finish in the 79th minute.
The young German front-man showed he was suffering no hangover from his World Cup exploits as he bent the ball beautifully into the far corner using the outside of his boot after Daniel Van Buyten's knock-down.
Borriello could have snatched an equaliser out of nothing for Roma as Bayern's backline went to sleep from the kick-off but Klose put the game to bed as he latched onto Holger Badstuber's free-kick four minutes after Muller's opener.
| FC Bayern München |
Team Statistics |
Roma |
| 2 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 10 |
Shots off Target |
0 |
| 8 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 6 |
Corners |
5 |
| 13 |
Fouls |
14 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 91.5 |
Passing Success |
76.2 |
| 26 |
Tackles |
19 |
| 73.1 |
Tackles Success |
78.9 |
| 73.8 |
Possession |
26.2 |
| 62.2 |
Territorial Advantage |
37.8 |
|
