Bayern Munich 6-0 Werder Bremen: Carlo Ancelotti off to perfect start
Bayern Munich gave new coach Carlo Ancelotti more reason to celebrate as they cruised to an easy 6-0 win over Werder Bremen on Friday.
Die Roten had kicked off the season with a 2-0 win against bitter rivals Borussia Dortmund to clinch their first DFL-Supercup in four seasons. This was then followed by a 5-0 mauling of lower tier side Carl Zeiss Jena in DFB-Pokal action in midweek. And now, with their comfortable victory against Werder Bremen, Ancelotti’s men have now scored a whopping 13 goals in three games sans reply.
From the outset, this appeared that it would be a one-sided match. The visitors were dealing with a spate of injuries ahead of this game, which would naturally be a nightmare for anyone facing the Bavarian titans. Not surprisingly, it took just nine minutes for the gates to open, with veteran midfielder Xabi Alonso scoring a long range beauty from just outside the box.
Four minutes later, Robert Lewandowski fired in the team’s second – and his first – from an acute angle. Despite the one-two punch, Werder Bremen hung on valiantly to try to stem the bleeding and the two sides headed into the half-time break separated by two goals.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Bayern Munich weren’t done with them just yet. Four more goals would arrive in the second 45 as Lewandowski completed his hat-trick, Franck Ribery opened his account, and even Philipp Lahm got in on the action to grab a rare goal.
So, what did viewers learn from this fixture? Well, for starters, Lewandowski – who arguably would probably be the man of the match – appears to be back in form. The 28-year-old Polish striker, who had a frustrating Euro tournament, has scored six goals in just his past two games. Of course, detractors will point out that Carl Zeiss Jena and a decimated Werder Bremen aren’t exactly the toughest of opponents. Nonetheless, Ancelotti will still be encouraged by the performance of last season’s Torjägerkanone winner.
Second, although Thomas Muller was unable to score, he looked more like the player that set the Bundesliga alight last campaign – and a far cry from the player who was shockingly subdued for die Mannschaft this summer. A third thing to note is the amazing squad depth of Bayern Munich. How many coaches can sub out someone like David Alaba and bring in youngster Joshua Kimmich without a hitch? Or Philipp Lahm for Rafinha? Furthermore, with Jerome Boateng still out injured, Javi Martinez again deputized as a center-back alongside Mats Hummels and overall was pretty solid.
Of course, Bayern will face much stiffer opposition later this campaign. For now, though, September looks to be a pretty easy month for die Roten, both in Bundesliga action and in the Champions League. All in all, Ancelotti and die Roten supporters can be very satisfied with the team’s performance, and will hope that this will be sign of more to come over the course of this season.
