A Bayern side brimming with purpose and energy strode into the DFB Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday evening as abject Eintracht Frankfurt, so stubborn in almost nicking a point in Munich at the weekend, capitulated tamely in the teeth of their vastly superior opponents.
The noisy home majority in the 51,500 capacity crowd at the Commerzbank Arena fell silent with less than 20 minutes on the clock after Klose put the visitors two up with a brace of stunning simplicity, Thomas Müller twisting the knife with a third on the half-hour. Luca Toni opened his account for the season with a diving header after the restart, as the 14-times winners completed their passage to the last eight with unexpected ease.
Louis van Gaal made just one change to Saturday’s winning team, replacing Danijel Pranjic with fit-again Edson Braafheid at left-back. The indications were for a flat four in midfield, comprising Mark van Bommel, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Müller, serving front two Klose and Toni.
Topics of this article