Olympiakos vs. Bayern Munich: Score and Reaction from 2015 Champions League

Bayern Munich opened Champions League play with a hard-fought 3-0 victory over Olympiakos at Karaiskakis Stadium in Greece on Wednesday. Thomas Muller scored a brace and Mario Gotze added the other goal for last year's tournament semifinalists.

As expected, the Thrylos played a defensive-minded style of football throughout the match. It forced FCB to keep the ball on the perimeter for the most part and severely limited their number of looks from in front of goal. The plan was efficient, but still not enough to earn the underdogs a point.

Bayern manager Pep Guardiola admitted before the fixture that the reigning Greek champions represented a tricky road challenge to start the tournament, as SW Lim of Goal noted. In turn, he hoped his squad would rise to the occasion to get off on the right foot.

"Olympiakos are strong. The atmosphere at the stadium is magnificent, and so is the quality of the players," Guardiola said. "It's the Champions League, and all the teams are good. A win here would be a first step. This year we will try it again. But whether we win or not? I do not know."

Those comments proved true in the early going as the Thrylos, bolstered by a terrific fan atmosphere, played at a high level. They remained well structured at every level and even created a couple looks at goal on the counterattack.

The best came courtesy of Brown Ideye, who found some space in the box. His header was directly at Manuel Neuer, however, and the FCB goalkeeper made the routine save.

Olympiakos were also playing a physical brand of football in the early going. While the effort to keep the star-studded Bayern attack out of dangerous areas was effective, it also led to a trio of yellow cards within the first 25 minutes.

Robert Lewandowski nearly gave the German side the lead just inside of the half-hour mark. His header got behind Roberto before getting cleared at the last moment. Greek Football noted the key play and the clear edge in time on the ball for Bayern:

The Bavarians failed to create much more offense in the opening 45 minutes as the stingy Olympiakos defense held firm in the final third. The result was a 0-0 scoreline at the break.

Bavarian Tweets felt a more varied attacking approach was needed in the second half:

It took less than 10 minutes after halftime to break the deadlock as Bayern edged out in front. Interestingly enough, the goal seemingly came from another failed cross attempt.

Thomas Muller appeared to try to whip in a delivery toward multiple FCB attackers making runs in the box. Instead, the effort floated over Roberto, who could only get a slight touch, and into the far netting for the first goal of the match.

Whether it was a mistake or a brilliantly placed shot after changing focus, it gave Bayern a lead after 50 minutes of struggling to create chances. ESPN Stats and Info highlighted the terrific form showcased by the German forward as of late:

Olympiakos' best chance to equalize came in the 83rd minute as Leandro Salino found himself with a clean run at goal as Jerome Boateng got caught out of position. He failed to put the ball on frame, however, striking it past Neuer but into the side netting.

A short time later, Bayern scored their second goal to secure the three points. Gotze found some space and, after a nifty first touch, decided to take the shot from a difficult angle. Roberto probably should have done better as the ball got through him and into the far corner.

Stats Zone spotlighted the first two goals for the Bavarians:

Muller added his second goal of the night from the penalty spot to finish the scoring in stoppage time. Bayern Munich celebrated the result:

All told, Olympiakos put together a solid performance to stick with Bayern for 90 minutes. They just couldn't create enough opportunities moving forward. That should change when they return to Superleague Greece action against Skoda Xanthi on Tuesday.

The Bavarians should be happy to emerge with all three points. They haven't been playing their best football over the past couple matches, so the fact they are still getting victories shows their overall strength. Next up is a Bundesliga meeting with Darmstadt on Saturday.

In terms of UCL Group F play, Bayern will take on Dinamo Zagreb at home while Olympiakos travels to Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal during the next set of fixtures Sept. 29.

Post-Match Reaction

Guardiola stated he emerged happy with the overall showing from his side, but is still waiting to see more from one of his star midfielders, per the Champions League feed:

Bayern provided confirmation from Muller that his first goal didn't go as planned:

All told, the Bavarians will enjoy much better matches during the course of the campaign. The 3-0 scoreline is a bit deceiving considering their lack of attacking pressure for most of the match. But they got the win to start the UCL journey on a high note and that's the most important thing.