By Karolos Grohmann
Munich: Bayern Munich struck three times in the opening 21 minutes en route to a 5-0 demolition of Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) to stay top of Group C and set a record for the longest unbeaten run in group matches.
Leroy Sane scored twice while Serge Gnabry, Sadio Mane and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting were also on target for the Germans, who have now gone 31 group matches in the competition without defeat, passing the mark set by Real Madrid.
They have also scored nine goals in their last two matches in all competitions after their 4-0 league win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday that ended a four-game winless run in the Bundesliga.
The Bavarians, who face Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga’s Der Klassiker on Saturday, found no resistance from the Czechs and made the most of big gaps in their defence at every opportunity.
“The lads did it really well. That is how to approach a game,” said Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann. “It was decided relatively quickly and then the game sort of trundled along.”
“But that is also mature with an eye on Saturday, not to play out every attack. It was a good game to see that we are taking steps in the right direction.”
Sadio Mane scored the third goal of Bayern’s 5-0 rout.Credit:Getty
Goals from Sane in the seventh minute, Gnabry five minutes later and Mane in the 21st quickly put the hosts in the driving seat.
Despite the absence of Thomas Mueller and Joshua Kimmich due to COVID-19, they completely overran their opponents with their slick passing game.
Jamal Musiala should have made it 4-0 in the 25th when he had only the keeper to beat but fired his effort against Marian Tvrdon.
The Germany international thought he had made amends in the 36th when he curled a shot past Tvrdon after a quick Bayern move, but his effort was ruled offside.
Leroy Sane celebrates the second goal of his double for Bayern.Credit:Getty
The Bavarians, however, picked up where they left off after the break with Sane latching onto a perfectly lofted Mane pass to fire in five minutes after the restart.
Substitute Choupo-Moting scored with a shot off the post just before the hour mark to complete the rout and put Bayern top of the group on nine points from three games.
In Tuesday’s other early kick-off, Marseille secured their first Champions League win of the season when they came from behind to outclass 10-man Sporting Lisbon 4-1 in an incident-packed Group D encounter at an empty Stade Velodrome.
Sporting made a blistering start to the game, played behind closed doors after crowd trouble marred Marseille’s home game against Eintracht Frankfurt, when Francisco Trincao put them ahead after just 51 seconds with a sublime solo effort.
But Marseille turned the tide within three frantic minutes, with Alexis Sanchez first scoring a freak equaliser when goalkeeper Antonio Adan smashed his clearance against the Chilean before Amine Harit nodded home in the 16th minute for the lead.
Adan’s difficult evening came to a premature end seven minutes later when he was given a red card for handling outside the area, and the hosts made that advantage count instantly as Leonardo Balerdi beat his marker to score from Harit’s corner.
