Bayern Munich marked the beginning of their Champions League campaign with a telling performance away to Benfica at the Estadio da Luz on Wednesday evening.Niko Kovac watched his men secure a 2-0 win in their hosts’ notoriously volatile backyard, courtesy of goals from Roberto Lewandowski and Renato Sanches.The Polish striker provided the opener after ten minutes when he received a cutback from David Alaba near the edge of the box, faked past his marker and drilled the ball across Odisseas Vlachodimos.It took Bayern until the 55th minute to earn themselves some breathing space through Sanches, who read a lofted cross better than anyone else to ghost behind a crowd of defenders and tap into an empty net.While the final scoreline might suggest it was an easy night for the German side, Benfica ended the match with the same number of shots - 14.Only one statistic matters, though, and it’s no surprise Kovac was delighted to win his first match as a manager in the Champions League."We wanted to have a good start in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League,” the 46-year-old said, per Goal."We knew Benfica have an exceedingly good team. They have a straightforward approach and try to finish quickly. We had to fight, we had many presentable chances but failed to make the most of them, we could have closed it out earlier."We want to go far in the Champions League. We have to stay focused, we know we're being hunted by everyone.”The Estadio da Luz is never an easy place to go - especially at a time when Benfica are sitting on top of the Portuguese league table unbeaten.James Rodriguez was chosen as the target of relentless booing from the home crowd and he had the perfect response.As the former Porto playmaker was replaced by Leon Goretzka 79 minutes in, he made a five-finger gesture in reference to a 5-0 loss inflicted by his old club when he was there in 2010.

JAMES' DOUBLE NUTMEG

Well played, but that wasn’t even James’ best moment of the night.

He also executed a flawless double nutmeg to keep possession in midfield before drawing a foul from one of his frustrated markers.

If there was ever a perfect reminder of James’ superb ball control, this is it.

Check it out in the video below…

Silky smooth.

James isn’t yet a regular under Kovac - in fact, the Benfica match was his first start of the season following three cameos from the bench in the Bundesliga.

However, his new boss will have to think about somehow squeezing him into his midfield if he keeps up stuff like this.