Bayern Munich warmed up for Wednesday’s Champions League last-16, first-leg clash at Arsenal by trouncing SC Freiburg 4-0 on Saturday to stretch their Bundesliga lead to 16 points.
Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, whose side extended their record unbeaten league run to 46 matches, rested several stars ahead of the clash with the Gunners in London, but still started with 10 internationals.
Brazil centerback Dante opened the scoring when he headed home on 19 minutes, while Swiss Xerdan Shaqiri added the second on 34 minutes after a superb reverse pass from Claudio Pizarro fell into his path and he fired home.
Photo: Reuters
The stocky Swiss then added his second just before the break and veteran striker Pizarro added a fourth two minutes from time.
However, the game ended on a sour note for Shaqiri, as he had to go off with a torn hamstring.
Meanwhile, second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who host Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League tomorrow, crashed to another home defeat when they lost 2-1 to Schalke 04.
Photo: Reuters
Having suffered a shock 1-0 stoppage-time defeat at home to second-tier Kaiserslautern on Wednesday last week in the German Cup quarter-finals, Leverkusen stumbled to their fifth defeat in their past seven games.
Fourth-placed Schalke took the lead when 19-year-old midfielder Leon Goretzka scored on 28 minutes, before centerback Felipe Santana netted a second-half own-goal to restore parity.
Netherlands striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar headed Schalke’s winner from a free-kick on 74 minutes to punish Levekusen and leave die Konigsblauen fourth in the tables.
Also on Saturday, Hamburg SV fired coach Bert van Marwijk after just 143 days in charge in the wake of their 4-2 drubbing at Bundesliga bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig earlier in the day.
“We were forced at this time to make this regretful decision and we thank Bert van Marwijk for his work,” Hamburg sporting director Oliver Kreuzer said in a statement.
Striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga put Hamburg ahead on 23 minutes, but Braunschweig’s Dominick Kumbela came off the bench to score twice.
Croatia midfielder Ivo Ilicevic appeared to have saved Hamburg with an equalizer 14 minutes from time, but Kumbela wrapped up his hat-trick when he pounced in a goal-mouth scramble.
To add to the visitors’ misery, midfielder Jan Hochscheidt then scored Braunschweig’s fourth — the 51st goal Hamburg have conceded this season — in the third minute of added time. The result keeps Hamburg second-from-bottom, but now only four points separate the bottom five teams.
German daily Bild reported that Mirko Slomka, who was sacked by Hannover 96 in December last year, is the favorite to replace Van Marwijk for Saturday’s Bundesliga match at home to third-placed Borussia Dortmund.
Having already won 1-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday last week, Borussia Dortmund enjoyed a 4-0 romp against Armin Veh’s side in the league on Saturday to stay third in the league.
Gabon international Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who headed the winner in the Cup tie, was back to terrorize die Adler with two goals in the opening 20 minutes.
Poland striker Robert Lewandowski netted a penalty, while Serbia’s Milos Jojic, who signed last month from Partizan Belgrade, took 17 seconds to score his first Bundesliga goal in his Dortmund debut.
“That was a great game and a great mentality from my team, they were strong from the first second,” Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp said. “We scored the goals at just the right times.”
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, Poland international Ludovic Obraniak netted his first league goal since joining Werder Bremen from Girondins de Bordeaux last month when he equalized two minutes from time to secure a 1-1 draw at home to Borussia Moenchegladbach, while TSG 1899 Hoffenheim routed VfB Stuttgart 4-1.
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