UEFA Champions League 2013 Bayern Munich vs. CSKA Moscow: Bayern Bullies CSKA; Guardiola Satisfied; Statistics; Result
Bayern Munich did not concede a single goal, but scored three, in their first game of the 2013 UEFA Champions League against CSKA Moscow.
Die Roten left-back David Alaba, who is known for his powerful long-range attempts, yet again defeated the keeper through a free kick.
CSKA keeper Igor Akinfeev was able to get his hands on the ball but found it too hot to handle.
Bayern dominated the game with crisp passing and by keeping possession, which was at 65 per cent.
Four minutes before the break, striker Mario Manzukic etched his name on the scoring column via a powerful header, thanks to a pinpoint Arjen Robben a cross.
Robben joined the scoring caravan at the 68 minute mark, with Alaba now playing as an assist man.
Bavarians boss Josep Guardiola was happy with the result, while implying that it was the players' hard-work that made the difference.
"I am very satisfied with the performance. Especially our first-half display was very pleasing. I am proud of this team," Guardiola told uefa.com.
"The first game after winning the Champions League is never easy. Everyone always thinks it is easy, but it is not. The style we play is Bayern's style, not mine."
" I am here to support my new players and I am very proud of them today. Philipp [Lahm] helped us today. His performance [as a defensive midfielder] was a surprise. He won the ball back and spread the play well. We played better in the middle."
Meanwhile, CSKA coach Leonid Slutski was anticipating this kind of a result and expressed that the will team will be using such invaluable experience, moving forward.
"Bayern were stronger - their superiority was clear throughout. If we had avoided an early goal we probably could have tried to get something from the match and looked for opportunities on the break," said Slutski.
"Our prospects were not very attractive before kick-off, but the early goal made our situation all the more difficult."
"We knew how Bayern would play, but that doesn't mean we knew how to stop them. They pressed effectively and didn't allow us to use the empty spaces."
"The game went just as we thought it would, but we had no chances to build on the counterattack."
"It was useful to test ourselves in a match against the best team in the world at the moment. This game highlighted many aspects of our play that we don't see in the domestic league."
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