Bayern Munich put on a clinic on Saturday at the Allianz Arena against Werder Bremen on the way to a 5-0 victory. The Bavarians move their lead at the top of the table to eight points, while Werder find themselves only three points out of the relegation zone.
The match was never a true contest between two competitive teams and was more of a training session for Bayern in the buildup to Wednesday's Champions League match with Juventus. With Werder missing several regulars, their best hope was to catch an unmotivated and "off" Bayern team. What they found was a team in great form.
Kingsley Coman and Franck Ribery got the start out wide for Bayern with Arjen Robben and Douglas Costa being rested. Coman was determined to show that he truly does belong in the starter conversation with the other three wingers. The young Frenchman used his skill and speed to eviscerate any defender that Werder threw at him.
Thiago Alcantara and Mario Götze also returned to Pep Guardiola's starting eleven on the day, and it was the Spaniard that kicked off Bayern's goals. Coman ran past his man out wide and crossed the ball into the center of the penalty area. Thiago beat his man to the spot, leaving Felix Wiedwald with no hope in the goal. Just ten minutes into the game, the fans were celebrating the first goal of the day.
Bayern's second would come at the half hour mark, and once again it was Coman who made the difference. He beat his man to the end line before crossing the ball back to the middle to Thomas Müller. With the ball slightly behind him, Müller managed to get his boot to the ball and finish past Wiedwald to make it 2-0.
The next half hour of game time was a master clinic from Bayern on how to destroy the spirits of your opponent. At the hour mark, Bayern had 77% possession and had completed 91% of their passes.
How great were things going for Bayern on the day? They scored from a corner! Ribery hit Thiago's corner first time bringing out a good save from Wiedwald. However, Müller was on the doorstep to finish the rebound for his second goal of the match. Müller now has 19 for the season, six more than he's ever scored in a Bundesliga season.
Guardiola brought Lewandowski on the field for a late cameo appearance, and he didn't want to be left out of the goalscoring fun. Ten minutes after coming onto the field, Lewandowski intercepted a poor back pass from Alejandro Galvez and scored to make it 4-0. The goal was his 24th of the Bundesliga season.
However, the day belonged to Kingsley Coman. In the dying seconds of the match, Coman left Theodore Gebre Selassie in his dust again before finding Thiago for a simple finish and a 5-0 scoreline.
Bayern will return to the field on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League against Juventus. The first leg ended 2-2 with Bayern grabbing two away goals.
Match Details
Bayern Munich (5-0) Werder Bremen
Goals:
Bayern: Thiago Alcatara (9, 90), Thomas Müller (31, 66), Robert Lewandowski (86)
Werder: None
Yellow Cards:
Bayern: Franck Ribery (35)
Werder: Theodore Gebre Selassie (25), Papy Mison Djilobodji (67)
Bayern XI: Neuer; Alaba, Benatia, Kimmich (Rafinha 68), Lahm; Thiago, Alonso; Ribery, Götze (Rode 54'), Coman; Müller (Lewandowski 74)
Werder XI: Wiedwald; Selassie, Galvez, Djilobodji, Garcia (Garcia 77); Vestergaard; Oztunali (Lorenzen 45), Yatabare, Veljkovic (Kleinheisler 45), Grillitsch; Ujah