Bayern hammer Hamburg in Donetsk warm-up
BERLIN: Bayer n Munich claimed the biggest Bundesliga win for 30 years to warm up for their Champions League away match to Shakhtar Donetsk with Saturday’s 8- 0 thrashing of Hamburg.
Stars Arjen Robben, Thomas Mueller and Mario Goetze all netted twice as Bayern ran riot at Munich’s Allianz Arena before Tuesday’s last-16, f irstleg clash against Shakhtar in Lviv.
This was Bayern’s biggest league win since routing Kickers Offenbach 9-0 in March 1984 and it was the league’s highest score since Borussia Moencheng ladbach cr ushed Eintracht Braunschweig 10 - 0 in October the same year.
It was Ha mbu rg ’s heav iest ever league defeat.
Ju st over t wo ye a r s a f ter their 9-2 drubbing at Munich’s Allianz Arena, Hamburg were again made to suffer having also been drubbed 3-1, 5- 0 and 6 - 0 on their last four visits to Bavaria.
“We played wel l, ou r bu i ld up play was good and I am pleased our style is back. Now we focus on t he Cha mpions Leag ue,” said Bayer n coach Pep Guardiola.
Bayern stay eight points clear after racing into a 20 lead with 23 minutes gone as Muel ler slot ted a pena lt y, then his Germany team-mate Goetze added a second.
Arjen Robben danced through their defence, then cu rled home a 3 6t h-m i nute goal to claim their third.
Hamburg’s luck had clearly deserted them as replays showe d G o et z e h ad br ief ly touched the ball at the start of the move.
Robben grabbed his second a fter 47 minutes as the game became l it t le mor e t h a n a shooting session as the hosts ran riot.
Mueller then curled home a superb shot after a run by his captain Bastian Schweinsteiger on 55 minutes.
Lewandowski got on the scoresheet to make it 6-0 barely a minute later when Robben’s pass found Mueller, who had all the time in the world to roll his pass to the Polish striker’s feet.
France winger Franck Ribery came of f t he bench to add to Jaroslav Drobny’s misery in the Hamburg goal on 69 minutes before Goetze claimed h i s side’s ei g ht h t wo m i nute from time.
H av i ng gone 3 - 0 up away, Wolfsburg survived a spirited f ight-back to win 5 - 4 at Bayer Leverkusen, for whom Son Heung-Min scored a hattrick whi le Wolves’ Bas Dost claimed four goals.
Leverkusen finished with ten men after Bosnia defender Emir Spahic was sent off late on for a second yellow card.
Wit h Wolves 3 - 0 up, the match exploded in ten crazy second-half minutes as Son claimed a hat-trick to make it 4 -3 with 67 minutes gone just after Dost had also hit his third.
Germany winger Karim Bellarabi then put hosts Leverkusen level at 4- 4 at the BayArena before Dost grabbed the 94th-minute winner.
The result leaves Wolfsburg both eight points ahead of third-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach and eight points behind leaders Bayern.
Gladbach claimed a 1- 0 win at Cologne as Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka headed their 91st-minute winner.
Two home fans were arrested after a 30-strong group invaded the pitch after the f inal whistle.
Werder Bremen’s remarkable run continues as they picked up their fifth straight win which has taken them from bottom of the table to eighth and the verge of a European place.
Ex- Chelsea and Wigan striker Franco di Santo netted a penalty to leave him with four goals in three league games in their 3-2 win at Augsburg, who drop to fifth.
Vf B Stuttgart stay bottom of the table after their 2-1 defeat at Hof fenheim, thanks for Sebastian Rudy’s 93rd-minute winning goal.
On Saturday night, Schalke 0 4 host Eintracht F rank fur t in the Royal Blues final warmup before hosting holders Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16, first-leg, tie.
Strugglers Hertha Berlin host second-from bottom Freiburg in a basement battle on Sunday.
On F r iday, Borussia Dortmund moved out of the relegation zone with a 4-2 home victory over Mainz as Germany winger Marco Reus got on the scoresheet after commiting to Dortmund until 2019. - AFP