Bayern Munich fans and Greek police collide before Champions League clash against Olympiacos
Travelling fans of Bayern Munich were engaged in a clash with the Greek police before their side’s Champions League match against Olympiakos at the Karaiskakis Stadium.
The opening tie of Group F in the Champions League saw Bayern defeat the Greek champions Olympiacos convincingly by a 3-0 scoreline on Wednesday night with goals coming from Thomas Muller (2) and Mario Gotze as Pep Guardiola’s men grabbed all three points against the hosts. But the game was also marred by the violent confrontations between the visiting fans and the officers in duty at the stadium.
The police, who had their riot gear on, were assigned to protect the away fans from any kind of danger from the hostile away crowd. But the Bavarian supporters started to insult and taunt the Olympiacos fans ahead of the game which led to the police themselves becoming the mode of danger as they beat up the retreating crowd with batons as seen in the video below.
Following the incident, a Bayern spokesperson said, "There was unnecessary loutish behaviour from our fans and disproportionate use of the baton by police."
The violence outside the game didn’t affect the match in anyway and eventually it turned out to be a fairly straightforward win for the Bundesliga Champions. The players were congratulated by their manager Pep Guardiola after the match.
Guardiola pleased with his team’s performance
"The first match in the group stage is never easy,” the former Barca managed stated. ”Olympiacos had not lost in six home games in European competition – and their opponents weren't easy. We controlled the game throughout and I have to give credit to my team. However, it was just the first step.
"I'm very pleased to be training this team.
"It's very difficult to win here – Atlético Madrid, among others, have lost here. I'm very pleased with all of the team. Lewandowski, Vidal and Alonso have certain problems with their legs, but I don't think they're serious," added Guardiola.
Olympiacos coach Marco Silva, on the other hand, thought that it was an unlucky defeat and regretted his side’s missed chances in the first half.
He said: "It was a disappointing end for us and it's left a bitter taste because we played well. We were unlucky with the first goal we conceded, and if we had taken our chances things would've been different.
"Against such difficult opponents it's always hard to prepare. The players were given new roles but we are pleased with how they did.
"If I have one criticism, it's that we were lacking pace and our crosses weren't good enough.
"We didn't take our chances and we paid the price.