Bayern Munich thumped 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 the seventh year in a row when they travel to Istanbul for the second leg on 14 March.
Muller helps thwart Gunes’ golden oldies
Bayern had over 68% possession against Besiktas
As soon as Bayern’s ever-reliable skipper Muller found himself in the right place to sweep through the legs of Besiktas keeper Fabri just before half-time, the win almost became a formality.
Heynckes’ side were unbeaten in the previous 61 competitive matches in which the 28-year-old Germany international 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.
Even with the omens stacked in their favour, Bayern did not 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, 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, who has played for eight clubs including Barcelona and Chelsea 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 was not 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, 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 -3C temperatures.
Man of the match – Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
Muller and Lewandowski make Champions League pedigree count – the stats
- Only Cristiano Ronaldo (56) and Lionel Messi (38) have scored more goals in the Champions League knockout phase than Muller (21).
- Lewandowski has scored 19 goals in his past 17 Champions League appearances at the Allianz Arena.
- Bayern have won their past five Champions League games, the longest current run in the competition.
- Bayern have won 20 of their past 21 Champions League games at the Allianz Arena, the only exception coming against Real Madrid in last season’s quarter-final (2-1).
- Besiktas’ starting 11 had an average age of 31 years, 151 days – the oldest side they have fielded in the competition and the oldest in the Champions League since Apoel Nicosia on 3 March, 2012, v Lyon (31 years, 262 days).
- The two earliest red cards in the Champions League this season have both come at Bayern for fouls on Lewandowski – Sven Kums for Anderlecht in September (11th minute) and Vida (16th minute).
- Bayern attempted 20 shots in the first half. The most in the first half of a Champions League game was also by Bayern – in October 2013 against Viktoria Plzen (21).
What’s next?
Bayern face Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday, 24 February (14:30 GMT) while Besiktas play Fenerbahce on Sunday, 25 February (16:00).
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Source: BBC Sport
