Blistering Reds down Freiburg

Always focused and at times scintillating, FC Bayern beat SC Freiburg 4-0 on Sunday evening in a demonstration of superior class. The bold hosts held up the Bavarian steamroller for 25 minutes, but the German record champions struck twice to deadly effect midway through the first half, Thomas Müller forcing an own-goal from Freiburg netminder Alexander Schwolow before Corentin Tolisso doubled the lead, his rocket finding the net from 30 yards. Sandro Wagner and Müller himself rounded off the scoring in the second half.

The Bavarians started with Sven Ulreich in goal and Joshua Kimmich, Jérôme Boateng, Mats Hummels and David Alaba in a back four. Arturo Vidal anchored a midfield featuring Müller, Tolisso, Thiago and Juan Bernat, with Wagner as an orthodox centre-forward.

Jupp Heynckes made six changes to the XI that drew with Berlin last weekend. Kimmich and Boateng took over from Rafinha and Niklas Süle in defence. Vidal, Bernat and Tolisso replaced Javi Martínez, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry, with Wagner coming in for Lewandowski up front.

Double strike

The 24,000 full house saw an entertaining, up-tempo contest with chances at either end, with Bayern in the driving seat and the hosts dangerous on the break. A Müller header drew a comfortable save from Schwolow before Tolisso fired over the bar from distance. The Bavarians soon had Sven Ulreich to thank for keeping the scores level. Lucas Höler had ghosted past the rearguard and was alone in front of Ulreich, who shone with a strong save to deflect the ball inches wide of the post.

But Bayern netted twice before the half-hour mark. A Hummels cross found Müller at the back stick. The native Bavarian played an involuntary one-two with Freiburg's Caglar Söyüncü before his effort bounced off Schwolow and into the back of the net. The goal galavnised the visitors. Barely three minutes later Tolisso found himself confronted with space rather than opponents 30 yards out and unleashed a sumptuous curler that sailed past Schwolow and into the top corner of the net via the inside of the post. Thiago miscued an effort from 20 yards before match official Frank Willenborg blew for half-time.

Sandro settles it

Bayern were still on the front foot after the interval. Wagner put the game to bed before the hour, when he made the most of a mix-up in the box, slotting home from point-blank range. A Bernat header went wide before Müller added gloss to the scoreline, beating Freiburg's defenders to a short Kimmich corner to bury past Schwolow.

Munich increasingly engaged cruise control now, Rudy, Rafinha and Süle taking over from Thiago, Müller and Vidal in the closing stages. Ulreich beat Yoric Ravet to the ball before Boateng made a fine tackle against Christian Günter, and Willenborg put the hosts out of their misery.

The result takes Bayern onto 63 points from 25 matches, extending their giant cushion at the top of the standings to 20 points. The Reds are back in action next Saturday, when they entertain Hamburg in the Bundesliga before travelling to face Besiktas in the Champions League four days later.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen