- Title: Bayern ease to 3-0 win over Red Star
- Date: 18th September 2019
- Summary: MUNICH, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) BAYERN COACH NIKO KOVAC TAKING SEAT FOR NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERA WITH FC BAYERN LOGO (SOUNDBITE) (German) BAYERN MUNICH COACH NIKO KOVAC, SAYING: "First of all I would like to congratulate my team on their good start. You know yourself it is tournament form. You have to get through the group stage. Of course we want to start well into the tournament, with a home win! I have to say that we played a lot of chances and that is good. We could have got the one or other extra goals but on the other hand it was against a team that defended to the point of sacrifice. A team who tried everything to avoid a goal against them, ie to defend. That's why it wasn't so easy to use all our chances. But we are happy with the result and with the way we achieved it." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (German) BAYERN MUNICH COACH NIKO KOVAC, SAYING: (on Manuel Neuer-Ter Stegen spat) "I am absolutely on the same side as the bosses in this case, and absolutely on the side of our goalkeeper Neuer. And maybe we should just file this discussion now, when you look at it objectively and factually: He is the number one in Germany and he will retain this title as long as his performance adds up, ie as long as he doesn't decide to step down because he feels like it." KOVAC ON PODIUM WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE / KOVAC LEAVING MEDIA RED STAR BELGRADE COACH VLADAN MILOJEVIC ON PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) RED STAR BELGRADE COACH VLADAN MILOJEVIC, SAYING: "First of all I would like to congratulate the Bayern Munich players. I would also like to congratulate my players after a good performance. We knew what we were going up against in the game against the great Bayern who are certainly the favourite for this title. For us it was a great experience to play in the Allianz Arena. We think that we played without fear and we tried to play with a plan which was to play tight in defence and that we tried to attack and that we also tried to counter attack. What didn't work for us in the first half was to get the ball moving in the middle field, we lost the ball quickly there." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE MILOJEVIC LEAVING STAGE
- Embargoed: 2nd October 2019 23:52
- Keywords: Red Star Belgrade Bayern Munich Champions League Niko Kovac Vladan Milojevic
- Location: MUNICH, GERMANY
- City: MUNICH, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001AX6NNEN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Bayern Munich kicked off their Champions League campaign by easing to a 3-0 victory over Red Star Belgrade on Wednesday (September 18) in a one-sided Group B encounter.
Kingsley Coman headed them into the lead in the 34th minute from a fine Ivan Perisic cross and the Bundesliga's leading scorer Robert Lewandowski slid in for the second goal in the 80th.
Thomas Mueller, who became the club's record Champions League appearance maker when he came on as a substitute for his 106th game in the competition, volleyed in his first goal of the season in stoppage time.
Bayern, who stretched their unbeaten run in Champions League group stage home matches to 16, carved out chance after chance and twice hit the woodwork, while the Serbs, who battled through qualifying, were largely toothless up front.
Following a spat between Germany's number one goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and contender Marc Andre ter Stegen, Bayern coach Niko Kovac said he backed Neuer.
The disagreement could soon be settled off the pitch with Neuer considering international retirement next year, according to a SportBild magazine report on Wednesday.
Bayern Munich's Neuer, who has 90 caps, has been the undisputed number one since 2010 but Ter Stegen's form with Barcelona in recent seasons has made him a strong challenger ahead of Euro 2020.
After failing to get any playing time in their recent Euro qualifiers against Netherlands and Northern Ireland, the 27-year-old Ter Stegen, with 22 caps to his name, voiced his dissatisfaction.
Neuer then demanded stronger support from his fellow keeper and said his starts were down to good performances before Ter Stegen responded this week, saying Neuer's comments were "inappropriate".
In the group's other game, Olympiakos Piraeus came from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur in Athens.
(Production: Ayhan Uyanik, Tanya Wood) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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