Bayern Munich ended up as comfortable 4-1 winners against 3. Bundesliga side Preußen Münster, although the game was not as easy as the scoreline may have made it look for Pep Guardiola's men.
After a perfect minute of silence for a Münster great who had recently passed away, it was a star-studded Bayern squad who made the better start. Playing in a 3-4-3 formation, with a makeshift central midfield pairing of Mario Götze and David Alaba, the Bundesliga and DfB-Pokal reigning champions had the first chance of the game. Robert Lewandowski was looking to score his first competitive goal for Bayern, having made his debut in the 2-0 defeat to former club Dortmund in the Supercup during the week. His header in the opening five minutes went just over the bar.
Münster were making Bayern work hard for their win, and had an early chance of their own. Rogier Krohne, the Dutch striker, hit a shot from just outside the area, leaving Neuer to palm the shot away at his near post. The third division side, managed by former Borussia Dortmund player Ralf Loose, continued to frustrate Bayern as the game grew on, with some last-ditch defending preventing any danger on the goal.
20 minutes in, and Bayern finally opened the scoring. Lewandowski, who had spent the majority of the opening stages on the right wing, sent a cross in for Mario Götze, one of five World Cup winners in the starting 11, who headed the ball home from close range. Despite his height, Götze managed to outjump his challenging defender with ease.
Bayern had settled into the game after that opening goal and grew in dominance. Thomas Müller set up a chance for Philipp Lahm, who stumbled as he went to shoot, and also created a chance for himself, only for his shot to narrowly go wide of the post. The German found himself on the scoresheet minutes later, however, as a blocked pass found its way to him, and he calmly slotted the ball home with his left foot.
The home side had a fantastic chance to reduce the deficit in the 35th minute. A perfectly executed cross from Fabian Hergesel found an unmarked Marcel Reichwein in the Bayern penalty area, with just Manuel Neuer to beat, but the former Bayer Leverkusen youth player sliced his shot and the opportunity was wasted.
The last ten minutes of the half saw the action calm down a little. Xherdan Shaqiri, who scored a hat-trick for Switzerland at the World Cup, was given a yellow card on 37 minutes. Chances also fell to Juan Bernat, who signed from Valencia earlier in the window, and Robert Lewandowski, but both missed their chances.
Half-time: Preußen Münster 0-2 Bayern Munich
The second half began in the opposite way of the first, with the hosts on top for the opening five minutes of the second half. They also had the first chance, a shot from Philipp Hoffmann deflected off of Holger Badstuber for a corner, but nothing came from it.
Bayern again extended their lead on 53 minutes. A blocked shot fell to David Alaba, who thumped a fearsome shot from a full 25 yards, one that goalkeeper Daniel Masuch stood no chance of reaching. The three-goal advantage made it almost impossible for Münster to come back, and it almost got worse, though Lewandowski's chance of getting his first competitive Bayern goal were in vein.
At times, the Münster defence were totally outnumbering the Bayern attack, with the home side sometimes having all eleven players back to defend and limit Bayern to as little opportunities as possible. Masuch needed to use all of his power to claw away a looping header from Juan Bernat and keep the deficit at three goals.
Shaqiri was replaced by Claudio Pizzaro as Bayern played two strikers on the wings. His impact was almost instant as he grabbed the fourth goal for Bayern. After Kronhe lost the ball in the middle of the pitch, Müller's through ball was met by Pizzaro, and his control allowed him to break costless and delightfully chip the ball over Masuch.
The visitors became more sloppy with their passes towards the end, and it was only a matter of time before Münster capitalised on them. Jerome Boateng's shoulder connected with a cross into the box, and the referee awarded a penalty. Kronhe made up for his mistake from the fourth goal and sent Neuer the wrong way, giving the 16,000 Münster fans something to cheer about.
The drama didn't stop there, however. Marc Heitmeier had been pulling at Lewandowski as the Polish striker broke costless, and the Bundesliga top scorer from last season eventually went down in the box, and Heitmeier was sent off as a result. Lewandowski stepped up, but his penalty was weak and comfortably saved by Masuch. With that save, the full-time whistle blew, and it was Bayern who went into the next round of the cup.