Bayern warmed their fans’ hearts in the big freeze with an aggressive and inventive display in Wednesday evening’s DFB Cup quarter-final, as the 15-time winners defeated off-colour VfB Stuttgart 2-0 to seal a semi-final berth. There were fewer fireworks than in FCB’s spectacular 6-3 win in the corresponding Round of 16 tie last season, but the Bavarians’ victory was no less deserved on the night.
The 57,500 capacity crowd at the Mercedes-Benz-Arena saw an evenly-matched opening quarter of an hour, but the visitors recovered energetically from the early loss of Bastian Schweinsteiger to injury and took a deserved lead on the half-hour through Franck Ribery.
Ex-Stuttgart man Mario Gomez made it 2-0 just seconds after the restart as the visitors eased into the comfort zone, and with VfB posing next to no threat up front, Munich engaged cruise control through to the end.
The supremely comfortable win sees Jupp Heynckes’ side safely into Saturday’s draw for the semi-finals, where they will face one of Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach or second division Greuther Fürth. The Bavarians are next in competitive action this Saturday in a must-win Bundesliga meeting at home to struggling Kaiserslautern.
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