A makeshift Bayern side missing four regulars convincingly began the process of rehabilitation for a patchy few weeks at the club with a comfortable and fully merited victory over a weak Hannover team on Saturday.
The 69,000 at the Allianz Arena were rewarded for braving the bitter cold and steady snowfall in Munich with a first-half full of incident and goals. Jiri Stajner opened for the visitors, but Daniel van Buyten, Miro Klose and Hamit Altintop put Bayern in the driving seat by half-time.
Both sides went through the motions for a spell after the restart, before Munich picked up the pace towards the end. Lukas Podolski headed a fourth 17 minutes from time and Martin Demichelis added the fifth to wrap up a win which never looked in doubt once the men in red had their noses in front.
The result means Bayern climb to joint second in the standings with an identical record to Hoffenheim, and ahead of Wolfsburg and Hamburg on goals scored and goal difference respectively. All four clubs on 42 points from 23 games trail leaders Hertha Berlin by four points.
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