Bayern go eight points clear with 3-1 win at Schalke

Goals from Douglas Costa, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller give Bayern Munich complete control in their Champions League clash against Olympiacos.

Olympiacos were given hopes of a comeback in the second half, as Bayern defender Holger Badstuber was dismissed for a foul on Ideye outside the penalty area, but Arthur Masuaku’s effort from the resulting free kick flew over the bar.

Bayern gained momentum and doubled the lead only eight minutes later through Lewandowski, who unintentionally blocked an effort by Kingsley Coman to slot home from the edge of the box.

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has apologised for the “inexplicable” behaviour of fans of the club who went on the rampage in Gelsenkirchen after Saturday’s 3-1 Bundesliga win at Schalke.

Arsenal can still advance to the knoutout stage as second in the group after beating Dinamo Zagreb 3-0.

“We wanted to win the group, and we did it”, Guardiola said. However, OL have not won a game in the Champions League this season. Arsenal visits Olympiakos in the final group match.

League leader Bayern Munich was playing at Schalke later.

“It is a heavy defeat but if you want to challenge such an awesome team you have to be the top of your game”, said Olympiakos coach Marco Silva.

They head into the tie full of confidence following their thrashing of arch rivals Real Madrid at the weekend, which also saw the long-awaited return of star player Lionel Messi, who had been sidelined for two months with a knee injury. During the group phase, we have scored a lot of goals.

Instead of rely on a clean sheet for either side, however, we’ll back under 2.5 goals at evens – this gets the 1-1 draw on-side and looks marginally better value given what happened in the first game.

“Schalke’s five-man defense made it hard, they were quick in central defense, but we did it and I have to compliment my players for their work”, said the Spaniard, whose team are eyeing a record fourth consecutive Bundesliga title. “He doesn’t want to take any risk, though, and we don’t either – this is one of the most important games of our season”.

Meanwhile, Lyon failed to properly clear a corner and Coulibaly nodded home from close range to punish a lacklustre Lyon side that led through midfielder Jordan Ferri’s seventh-minute goal.

Augsburg’s second win of the season lifted them off the foot of the table, at least until Hoffenheim travel to Hertha Berlin on Sunday, and was sealed by two goals from Alexander Esswein and strikes from Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker and Ja-Cheol Koo.