Bayern Munich went four points clear in the Bundesliga with a 4-0 romp against Hannover 96 on Saturday, while Schalke 04, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer 04 Leverkusen suffered Champions League hangovers.
Bayern were rarely troubled at home, even with Thomas Mueller and World Cup winner Mario Goetze on the bench, plus Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger injured, as striker Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben both netted twice.
“We’re happy with the result,” said Bayern boss Pep Guardiola, whose side has won both of their opening Champions League matches. “The most important thing is that every game we’re playing a little better than before. We’re playing more and running less, so I’m happy with that.”
Munich were 2-0 up after just 13 minutes as Lewandowski chested down a long ball and drilled his shot into the bottom corner, then Robben added a second after a trademark run through the heart of the Hannover defense.
Lewandowski netted again just seven minutes before the break after coolly controlling a Juan Bernat pass and scoring into the left corner.
Bayern kept up the pressure in the second half as Robben scored his second with 11 minutes left.
Bayern have now gone seven games without conceding a goal.
In contrast, Dortmund are now winless in their past four league games, after their 1-0 defeat at home to Hamburg SV left them 13th.
Dortmund were a shadow of themselves after their 3-0 Champions League win against Belgian side Anderlecht as Hamburg picked up their first victory of the season.
“For all our ambitions and goals, this is currently not nearly enough,” Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp said. “I take full responsibility for the preparations and the tactics. We’re left with seven points and we’re not even looking at the top of the table.”
This was Hamburg’s fourth victory over Dortmund in their past five meetings, to leave Klopp’s side two points above the relegation zone.
Hamburg netted the first-half winner after sloppy defending.
A poor pass from Dortmund striker Adrian Ramos was snapped up by Hamburg’s Marcell Jansen, who fed Nicolai Mueller who sprinted away, drawing Borussia’s goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller for Pierre-Michel Lasogga to slot into an empty net on 35 minutes.
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