Bayern Munich opened their UEFA Champions League Group F campaign with a 1-0 win in Romania over Steaua Bucharest.
Van Buyten header seals win
Bayern Munich opened their UEFA Champions League Group F campaign with a 1-0 win in Romania over Steaua Bucharest.
The Germans were in control for much of the game at the Steaua Stadium but they could only seal a narrow win.
The winner came after 14 minutes when Belgian defender Daniel Van Buyten rose to head home.
Bayern began the game well and could have gone ahead within the opening five minutes.
The chance fell for Miroslav Klose, who was sent clear in the box by Bastian Schweinsteiger, but his shot came back off the face of Steaua goalkeeper Robinson Zapata - who did not know too much about it.
The Germans continued to push forward and it was not long before they broke the deadlock. It came on 14 minutes when Van Buyten met a Schweinsteiger free-kick and he glanced it into the bottom corner.
Steaua were not without their own chances either and almost levelled as Florin Lovin's long-range effort was blocked by Michael Rensing and Antonio Semedo fired the rebound into the side-netting.
Rensing was then somewhat fortunate as he saved Dayro Moreno's shot with his feet, but it cannoned onto the post and wide.
Bayern always looked dangerous going forward and Zapata produced a couple of greats saves from Toni.
He was also on hand to push a brilliant Schweinsteiger volley onto the post.
Bayern were in control in the opening exchanges of the second period although they were forced into a change as Klose came off and was replaced by Lukas Podolski.
But Steaua were looking better and better in attack, and they should have levelled on the hour.
It was the post again that came to Rensing's rescue when former Middlesbrough youngster Arturo Bernhardt broke into the box and fired under the Bayern number one - but he struck the up-right when he should have scored.
Bernhardt was again close just moments later as he struck a great shot from 20 yards but it flew just inches wide with Rensing looking beaten.
Bayern should have sealed the win with 20 minutes left when Toni was sent clear but he could only side-foot his effort straight at Zapata.
But it was still Rensing who was the busier of the two keepers and he did well to get down to Moreno's strike and hold onto the ball.
The two sides traded chances in the last ten-minutes with Phillip Lahm and Lovin both trying their luck - but the home side could not level as Jurgen Klinsmann claimed victory on his debut as a manager in the Champions League.
| Steaua Bucharest |
Team Statistics |
Bayern München |
| 0 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
10 |
| 8 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 3 |
Corners |
6 |
| 19 |
Fouls |
11 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 82.2 |
Passing Success |
82.5 |
| 19 |
Tackles |
18 |
| 73.7 |
Tackles Success |
88.9 |
| 44.5 |
Possession |
55.5 |
| 45 |
Territorial Advantage |
55 |
|
