Third home game, third home win. FC Bayern have confirmed their place in the last 16 of the Champions League as group winners courtesy of a 4-0 victory over Greek giants Olympiacos.
The match was virtually decided after just 20 minutes, as goals from Douglas Costa, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Müller saw Bayern race into a 3-0 lead. A second-half sending-off for Holger Badstuber on his comeback from injury gave the Greek visitors a very slim glimmer of hope, but a fourth goal was soon added by Kingsley Coman to remove any lingering doubts about which way the three points would go.
Leverkusen fall short of turnaround
Bayer Leverkusen failed to claim a vital win over BATE Borisov in their penultimate Champions League group game and look set to miss out on the knockout stages. After only drawing 1-1 in Belarus, the Rhineland club now need to beat Barcelona next week in order to progress, while anything but could also see them miss out on third spot and thus Europa League qualification.
Roger Schmidt’s side suffered a nightmare start when Bernd Leno let a seemingly harmless shot from Mikhail Gordeychuk through his legs after just two minutes. Bayer 04 pushed and pushed to get back into the game and were finally rewarded for their efforts with around 20 minutes left to play when Admir Mehmedi chipped home. But despite a late surge, Leverkusen fell short of grabbing the winner that would have given them a decent shot at staying in the Champions League beyond Christmas.
Third home game, third home win. FC Bayern have confirmed their place in the last 16 of the Champions League as group winners courtesy of a 4-0 victory over Greek giants Olympiacos.
The match was virtually decided after just 20 minutes, as goals from Douglas Costa, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Müller saw Bayern race into a 3-0 lead. A second-half sending-off for Holger Badstuber on his comeback from injury gave the Greek visitors a very slim glimmer of hope, but a fourth goal was soon added by Kingsley Coman to remove any lingering doubts about which way the three points would go.
Leverkusen fall short of turnaround
Bayer Leverkusen failed to claim a vital win over BATE Borisov in their penultimate Champions League group game and look set to miss out on the knockout stages. After only drawing 1-1 in Belarus, the Rhineland club now need to beat Barcelona next week in order to progress, while anything but could also see them miss out on third spot and thus Europa League qualification.
Roger Schmidt’s side suffered a nightmare start when Bernd Leno let a seemingly harmless shot from Mikhail Gordeychuk through his legs after just two minutes. Bayer 04 pushed and pushed to get back into the game and were finally rewarded for their efforts with around 20 minutes left to play when Admir Mehmedi chipped home. But despite a late surge, Leverkusen fell short of grabbing the winner that would have given them a decent shot at staying in the Champions League beyond Christmas.
