Bayern Munich 'Survives' Anderlecht in Their Champions Opener

The Bundesliga's perennial champions were anything but pleased before and after this one.

The Champions League Group B pool is clearly a two-team race for its two bracket spots.

FC Bayern is one of them. Anderlecht is not.

Still, it's not too much to ask Die Roten to play like there was something at stake. Carlo Ancelotti clearly did, and it may well have been enough to drive him to drink.

Brussels was a football hotbed a few decades ago when Anderlecht was a force. But the era of big broadcast contracts left most small-nation clubs in the dust, and Belgium was one.

As a result, just being in the Champions League presents a welcome cash infusion to the cause.

FC Bayern, of course, has loftier ambitions.

That's why a seemingly convincing  3-0 triumph over the Belgian side was still frustrating.

It's what was happening between the goals that's becoming a cause for concern, and it contiuned to turn up the heat on Ancelotti. As if he needed it to get any hotter.

Such are the expectations in Munich that an 11th-minute red card against Les Mauves et Blancs' Sven Kums would generate more productivity than 272 passes and 11 shots on target resulting in a 'mere' three goals.

As to the goals themselves, Polish scoring machine Robert Lewandowski was the reason for and beneficiary of Nums' dismissal:

Dude's one of the best at what he does.

Frankly, Bayern spent the next 50 minutes of game time frustrating their coach and fans, as they simply couldn't finish in the midst of one-way traffic. In addition to the 11 shots on target, another 13 couldn't even match that.

Anderlecht's man-down situation finally caught up with them in the 65th minute when Thiago Alcantara scored Bayern’s second:

Die Roten added a bit of French pastry just before the whistle when Joshua Kimmich danced a little with the opposition before tucking the ball in.

And so it was that the vanquished felt satisfied to have held a juggernaut to a fairly respectable result while the victors only created more turmoil for themselves.