Bayern Munich Humiliates Besiktas 5-0
Bayern Munich put five past 10-man Besiktas to equal their longest winning run and take a convincing lead in their Champions League last-16 tie.
The hosts won their 14th consecutive game after a dominant second half against Besiktas, who had Domagoj Vida sent off after 16 minutes.
Thomas Muller converted from close range in both halves and Kingsley Coman also swept home.
Top-scorer Robert Lewandowski added two more for Bayern as Besiktas tired.
Besiktas, who won all three of their away games in qualifying from group G, started brightly with Vagner Love shooting just over and Ricardo Quaresma forcing Bayern keeper Sven Ulreich to save at his near post.
But Jupp Heynckes’ men had 35 shots to their opponents’ six, and are well-placed to reach the quarter-finals for a seventh year in a row when they travel to Istanbul for the second leg on 14 March.
As soon as Bayern’s ever-reliable skipper Muller found himself in the right place just before half-time to sweep through the legs of Besiktas keeper Fabri, the win almost became a formality.
Previously, Heynckes’ side were unbeaten in the last 61 competitive matches that 28-year-old Germany international Muller has scored.
It is the eighth season in a row he has scored in the knockout phase, and Muller has netted in each of his two Champions League starts at the Allianz Arena this season.
But even with the omens stacked in their favour, they didn’t immediately have it all their own way after Vida’s red card.
Despite naming the oldest starting line-up in the Champions League in six years, 10-man Besiktas made the hosts sweat in the first half.
Brave, energetic and enterprising going forward, Senol Gunes’ team created those big chances for Love and the well-travelled Quaresma, 34, who has eight clubs including Barcelona and Chelsea on his CV, but still possesses enough pace to make defenders worry.
He may have been optimistic in the first half, but Gunes seemed to opt for damage limitation just before the hour-mark when he replaced striker Love with defender Dusko Tosic.
It wasn’t enough to stop a rampant Bayern. Their front three of Lewandowski, Coman and the talismanic Muller, who was shrewdly rested in their previous Bundesliga win over Wolfsburg, scored all the goals, had 16 shots between them and two assists.
Aided by the sharp instincts of full-backs David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich they suitably warmed the home fans on a night of -3 degree temperatures.
Besiktas must hope for a remarkable, headline-grabbing night in Istanbul if they are to go any further.
