Bayern should have beaten AEK by more, says Kovac

Bayern Munich should have beaten AEK Athens more handsomely in Wednesday's Champions League clash, according to boss Niko Kovac.

Published : Nov 08, 2018 09:14 IST

Bayern Munich head coach Niko Kovac said he was pleased with his side's performance, despite conceding it should have won by a more handsome margin.
Bayern Munich head coach Niko Kovac said he was pleased with his side's performance, despite conceding it should have won by a more handsome margin.
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Bayern Munich head coach Niko Kovac said he was pleased with his side's performance, despite conceding it should have won by a more handsome margin.

Bayern Munich head coach Niko Kovac does not believe his side's superiority was reflected in the scoreline of Wednesday's Champions League win over AEK Athens.

The Bundesliga champion saw off its Greek opponents 2-0 thanks to a Robert Lewandowski double, the Poland international scoring a first-half penalty and then adding a smart volley with 19 minutes remaining.

Benfica's draw with Ajax means that Kovac's side has opened up a two-point lead at the summit of Group E and knows that a point against the Portuguese side in three weeks' time will cement its place in the last 16.

Bayern was far from its fluent best at the Allianz Arena, but Kovac says he was pleased with his side's performance, despite conceding it should have won by a more handsome margin.

"We're very happy with the win. We could have scored more goals and killed the game off earlier on, but all in all it was a deserved three points," he told a media conference.

"We’re pleased to have reached 10 points – it puts us in a good position. We were a little surprised with how the opposition set up in a diamond, but after 30 minutes we adjusted and coped well.

"Firstly, the win is very good for our confidence. Secondly, it's important that we created lots of chances. I'm happy for Lewandowski because he's a very important player for us. He had four chances and scored two, which is a good ratio."

AEK Athens, meanwhile, remains rooted to the bottom of Group E, having lost all four of its matches.

That stretches its winless away run in the Champions League to 24 games, but boss Marinos Ouzounidis refused to be downbeat after the game.

"I think my team played well, just as we had hoped," he said.

"We wanted to press our opponents on the wings so that we could create space. We didn’t just play defensively. We wanted to have possession, which is why we had four midfielders with the aim of moving the ball around.

"Maybe we could have done more, but it was the first time we played like that so I'm happy with how we did."

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