Bayern had the look of champions at times as they tore into sorry Cottbus on Saturday, creating enough chances to have won by a street.
The 69,000 at the Allianz Arena, including among their number the 30 millionth paying customer at an FCB Bundesliga fixture in Munich, saw the home side lay siege to the Cottbus goal, only for Ervin Skela to hand the visitors a 25th-minute lead utterly against the run of play.
The double winners levelled just four minutes later when Franck Ribery netted for the sixth game in succession, before Martin Demichelis headed his side into a long overdue and fully deserved lead before the break.
Excitement in store
Miroslav Klose extended the advantage nine minutes after the restart, before Luca Toni volleyed home the fourth to give the scoreline a more realistic look in a match giving a new meaning to the notion of one-way traffic.
Despite the emphatic win, Bayern remain third in the standings on 28 points from 14 games, but are now level on points with second-placed Leverkusen and just three off leaders Hoffenheim. The run-in to the mid-season break thus promises thrills aplenty, as the champions travel to Bayer next weekend, before entertaining the team in top spot a week after that.
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