Hansi Flick hails winning start to his spell in temporary charge of Bayern Munich
Hansi Flick was satisfied after making a winning start to his spell in temporary charge of Bayern Munich.
The German giants began life after Niko Kovac by sealing qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League with a 2-0 victory against Olympiakos at the Allianz Arena.
Bayern sacked Kovac on Sunday following a 5-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt – their heaviest loss in the Bundesliga since April 2009.
Assistant coach Flick has been placed in control of the first team until a permanent replacement is found and he saw his side dominate the Group B encounter, but they had to wait until the 69th minute before the prolific Robert Lewandowski broke the deadlock.
Substitute Ivan Perisic ensured victory by adding a second goal in the final minute and the win was enough for Bayern to progress.
“I enjoyed it because the team displayed the quality they have. We can be very satisfied with the match. We can be pleased with everyone’s performance,” Flick told the club website.
“The team did a good job and earned their reward. We allowed them few chances, our positioning was good. After the last few matches it was about defending high and taking the initiative. Taken altogether the team performed well.
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“We put our opponents under pressure again and again. Olympiacos were very compact in defence. We made too many wrong decisions in the first half because it was very tight in front of goal. We did better after the break and rewarded ourselves.”
Next up for Bayern is a huge home game against rivals Borussia Dortmund and Flick immediately turned his attentions to that clash.
He said: “Now it’s about recovering quickly, working on routines and preparing ideally for Saturday.”
Olympiacos coach Pedro Martins, whose team are bottom of Group B with just one point from their four matches, conceded they were second best on the night.
“Bayern stifled our play – that has to do with our opponents’ quality of course. But we can do better than today,” he said.
“Bayern forced us into mistakes. They have a new coach and were very focused. Our opponents’ quality was too great. They hardly let us have the ball.
“We tried, and we turned in a decent performance even though we lost.”
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