FCB encouraged by return to quality football

The big freeze in Germany continues, but Bayern metaphorically thawed out in Stuttgart on Wednesday evening with a dynamic, flexible, effective and defensively flawless display in handing the home side a 2–0 DFB Cup quarter-final defeat. “Our balance between defence and attack was superb," commented Jupp Heynckes, as FCB showed their true character for the first time since the mid-season break.

In the one-sided clash at the Mercedes-Benz-Arena, there were strong echoes of Munich's 13-game unbeaten run last autumn. Manuel Neuer had only one shot to save, an effort by Germany international Cacau in the second half. Otherwise, centre-backs Holger Badstuber and Jerome Boateng marshalled a rock-solid backline. “We stopped anything developing around our goal," remarked Thomas Müller.