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Olic winner gives Bayern hope |
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Bayern Munich kept their chances of reaching the last 16 of the Champions League alive with a narrow win over Maccabi Haifa in Group A.
Ivica Olic scored the only goal of the game in the 62nd minute to keep the Bavarians in the race to join Bordeaux in qualifying for the next round, but Louis van Gaal's side were far from impressive and questions will continue to be asked about the Dutch coach's compatibility with this side.
But the result in Bordeaux, where the French champions beat Juventus 2-0, means Bayern travel to Turin in a fortnight's time knowing a win would see them qualify at the expense of the Bianconeri.
Given the pressure which has been mounting on Bayern recently, it was no surprise that they appeared a little nervous to begin with. Although they were in full control of the game, each and every player in white looked for the easy pass rather than risk the wrath of the fans with a wayward ball, making for a very tense opening.
Only Bastian Schweinsteiger had the confidence to run at the Maccabi defence with any intention. Nevertheless, the home side still created the best chances of the first half with Mario Gomez failing to put them ahead in the 17th minute when he had the whole goal to aim at from eight yards, but he placed his volley wide of the post.
Maccabi's best chance came midway through the first half with Eyal Meshumar's shot taking a slight deflection which forced Hans-Jorg Butt to parry the ball rather than make a catch.
Gomez, Schweinsteiger and Olic all took shots from outside the penalty area as there seemed no actual way into the Maccabi penalty area.
Holger Badstuber found a way in from a free-kick in first-half stoppage time which Olic headed over the crossbar with the Maccabi goalkeeper off his line. Maccabi had the first chance of the second half as Bayern finally began taking a few more risks.
Yaniv Katan found some room just outside the Bayern penalty area and he took the ball down well on his chest before volleying it just over the crossbar. Schweinsteiger sent a direct free-kick onto the top of the crossbar in the 52nd minute, although Maccabi goalkeeper Nir Davidovich looked to have the effort covered anyway.
Bayern finally broke the deadlock 10 minutes later with Gomez's 20-yard effort only parried out by Davidovich into the path of Olic, who stroked the ball into the empty net. Katan sent a free-kick over the Bayern wall and onto the roof of the net in the 68th minute, but Maccabi otherwise failed to cause any danger to the home side, who nevertheless had problems creating chances against a side they had beaten 3-0 in Israel
Thomas Muller came close with a shot wide in the 78th minute while Mark van Bommel's shot in stoppage time missed the far post by a hair's breadth.
But the Bavarians did not need a second to keep their hopes of reaching the last 16 alive, although they will have to beat Juventus in Turin in a fortnight's time to follow Bordeaux into the knockout stage.
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