Bayern Munich clinch place in Champions League knockouts, down Olympiacos 4-0

From the first whistle, Bayern Munich's foot was firmly on the gas pedal. They took a 3-0 lead within the first 20 minutes, laying waste to a frantically scrambling Olympiacos defense, before they settled down and rode out the final 70 minutes to book their place in the knockout rounds of the Champions League.

The game started on a high note for Bayern as it was Holger Badstuber's first match back in the Bayern Munich starting eleven since his last bout with long term injury. And Bayern Munich get that happiness flowing.

Douglas Costa got the scoring started in the 7th minute, breaking before the Olympiacos defense could respond to the swerving shot of Jerome Boateng, and coolly slotting his shot past Roberto.  Robert Lewandowski doubled the lead seven minutes later before Thomas Müller tapped in the third.

It was a flurry of goals that left the Greek defense totally out of sorts. And it wasn't as if, Olympiacos just started bad and found their footing, Bayern Munich just ran around them for 45 minutes non-stop. It was dominant football and highlighted just how good this team is.While Bayern Munich had a brief scare when Arjen Robben was substituted early with an injury, the club has since confirmed it was only a precautionary move. Which given that Bayern were 3-0 up, you can't really blame them.

The second half was a much more composed performance from Olympiacos, as they limited the Bayern Munich attacks to half chances and rangy efforts.That was until Holger Badstuber was beaten handily by Ideye Brown down the middle and picked up a red card for a tussling act that left them both sprawling. Up a man, Olympiakos pushed the match looking for anything that could salvage their pride or break down Bayern Munich. Bayern to their credit held firm, content to let Douglas Costa and Thomas Müller push Bayern on the counterattack, or build patiently towards goal.

Which Bayern Munich did when Kingsley Coman latched onto a headed ball following a floated cross from Philipp Lahm to extend Bayern's lead to 4-0.

Instant Analysis

• Jerome Boateng gets a ton of credit for being the most improved defender under Pep Guardiola, but his consistency at times is still called into question. But elsewhere on Bayern is Rafinha who is very silently and very consistently making a case for being the very best defender on Bayern Munich. That's a polarizing opinion to be sure, but I think there's real merit to it. Especially when you consider that just three years ago, Rafinha was a hothead incapable of keeping his emotions in check.
• It's hard to know what to make of Arturo Vidal. He was important for Bayern Munich tonight, but somehow you keep expecting something more visibly outstanding from him. He's defensively solid, great with the ball at his feet, and hardly seemed to make a mistake in this match. But for some reason, that doesn't feel like enough given the way he performed with Juventus the last three seasons.
• Poor, poor Holger Badstuber. Let's not think about this.
• Javi Martinez played defensive midfield. Let's think about this instead!!!
• JOSHUA KIMMICH PLAYED STRIKER FOR THE LAST 20 MINUTES. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, MR GUARDIOLA?!?!