Villarreal bow to Bayern excellence
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Xinhua, September 15, 2011
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Rafinha of Bayern Munich (L) celebrates with his teammate Franck Ribery after scoring during the UEFA Champions League group A match between Villarreal and Bayern Munich at El Madrigal on September 14, 2011 in Villarreal, Spain. |
Bayern Munich began their Champions League campaign with a convincing 2-0 win away to Spanish side Villarreal on Wednesday.
Goals from Toni Kroos and Rafinha allowed Bayern to kick off the group stage with three points in an entertaining game in the El Madrigal Stadium.
Although the game hung in the balance for periods of the action, Bayern always looked to have slightly more to offer than their rivals.
Villarreal went into the match without suspended midfielder Borja Valero, who was serving the first of a three-match ban after being sent off in the qualifying round against Danish side Odense.
Bayern, meanwhile were without Dutch international winger Arjen Robben, who is suffering from a groin strain, but the German side had the motivation of knowing that this season's final will be played in their Allianz Arena next May.
The German's motivation was clear to see from the start with French winger Frank Ribery looking confident. It didn't take him long to set up Toni Kroos, who put Bayern ahead after just seven minutes: Ribery's run down the left pulled the home defense out of position and let Kroos with a simple finish.
Villarreal were rocked by the early setback, while Bayern gained in confidence and pressured the Spanish side as they looked to bring the ball out of defense and Mario Gomez went close to adding a second with a header that flew just wide.
Meanwhile Ribery was giving Villarreal right back Mario Gaspar a torrid night.
The best news for the home side was the work of Giuseppe Rossi, but the Italian was struggling to link with Nilmar and Bayern looked comfortable as the halftime whistle blew, despite a late effort from Gaspar, which made Manuel Neuer work in the Bayern goal.
Rossi went close early in the second half, before Villarreal brought Marco Ruben on for Nilmar, but Bayern had the best chances with Nils Piterson testing Diego Lopez on more than one occasion.
The result was put beyond doubt when Rafinha scored Bayern's second of the night with just under 15 minutes remaining. He produced a burst of speed to find space before beating Lopez with a powerful shot.
Bayern have three vital points, while the draw between Manchester City and Naples, leaves Villarreal bottom of their group.
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