Robert Lewandowski (L) of Bayern Munich vies with Andreas Bouchalakis of Olympiacos during a UEFA Champions League group B match between FC Bayern Munich of Germany and Olympiacos Piraeus of Greece in Munich, Germany, on Nov. 6, 2019. (Photo by Philippe Ruiz/Xinhua)
BERLIN, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Bayern Munich advanced into the round of 16 after beating Olympiacos on the late goals from Robert Lewandowski and substitute Ivan Perisic in UEFA Champions League's group stage on Wednesday.
The German record champions dominated the visitors from Greece for over ninety minutes but still they had to wait until the closing period to turn their dominance into a tangible reward.
In the first match of Hansi Flick as interim head coach, Bayern gained the upper hand from the kick off but overcoming Olympiacos well-positioned defence proved to be a stiff piece of work.
Especially Olympiacos' goalkeeper Jose Sa made Bayern's life difficult as he defused the promising shots on target from Kingsley Coman and Thomas Muller.
Bayern almost grabbed the opener before the break but Benjamin Pavard's header to the right post concluded a first half which took mainly place in Olympiacos' territory.
After the restart, Bayern started where they left off and continued the one-sided affair as Sa denied Leon Goretzka's hammer and Coman's effort from sharp angle.
The hosts continued on the front foot but custodian Jose Sa seemed to be an insuperable barrier for Bayern, who besieged Olympiacos penalty area as the match progressed.
Bayern's constant efforts eventually got rewarded in the 69th minute when Robert Lewandowski touched Coman's low cross to the near post with the outside of his boot to beat Sa from very close range.
Flick's men gained momentum and added another goal to their lead 20 minutes later as Ivan Perisic, who came from the bench one minute earlier, poked home a loose ball from inside the box to put the result beyond doubt against resilient visitors.
With the victory, Bayern Munich top Group B with 12 points whereas Olympiacos sit at the bottom with only one point from four games.
"I am delighted with the performance of the team, we reached the last 16. The situation wasn't easy but we implemented exactly what we trained," Bayern's interim coach Hansi Flick said.
