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Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac said he was pleased with the way his team dictated the ball in their 2-0 victory against AEK Athens. 

Per UEFA.com, Kovac said: "We played very, very well today. We had a lot of the ball, we dominated our opponents and created two to three very good chances in the first half, but couldn't reward ourselves with a goal. I'm very happy with the way we played and ground out the result away from home.

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"It was a very, very good game. We dominated the opponent. In Athens you just can not win 4-0 or 5-0. The victory is fully deserved. The opponent was very compact, because we had to find the rooms first. We did it well. 

In the second half, there were five to ten minutes where we stumbled, but then we went again. Away you need a goal. I am happy. There are many other difficult teams in the competition. But I saw many good things today."

The five-team European Cup winners dominated possession in Greece, with 67% of the ball.

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However, their win was far from straightforward as they looked off the pace for the game's first hour, unable to find their way through a resolute AEK defence. Despite their initial struggles, two goals in two second-half minutes from Javi Martinez and Robert Lewandowski helped Bayern maintain firm control of a game they never looked in any danger of losing thereafter. 

The win puts the German side joint-top of Group E with Ajax, who won their fixture 1-0 at home to SL Benfica.

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They will look to use this victory as a catalyst to kickstart their campaign, starting with their next fixture which sees them travel to Mainz in the Bundesliga on Saturday at 14:30 BST.