Braces from Mario Götze and Philipp Lahm and further goals from Thomas Müller and Xabi Alonso sealed a comfortable 6-0 win for Bayern Munich against Werder Bremen.
The Bavarians were dealt a blow this week when Thiago Alcántara tore another ligament. It was confirmed that the Spaniard would need another operation, after it had looked like a return was just weeks away. Pepe Reina, Holger Badstuber, Javi Martinez and Bastian Schweinsteiger are further long-term injury problems for Bayern, with a possible return months from now. Werder Bremen had no such injury problems, only Philipp Bargfrede and Theodor Gebre Selassie were injured.
Bayern brought in Thomas Müller, Jerome Boateng, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Mario Götze, meaning Pep Guardiola made four changes to the side that beat Hannover 4-0. While Bremen boss Robin Dutt made just two changes from their 1-1 draw with Freiburg; Felix Kroos and Clemens Fritz replaced Alejandro Gálvez and Marnon Busch.
Any early exchanges of the first half were few and far between. Some hacked clearances by Santiago Garcia and Dante caused little more than a few flutters of nerves for the respective teams' fans. Dutt would have taken great heart from his side's start; they'd braved a 15 minute spell of almost exclusive Bayern possession and were starting to get some time to express themselves.
However, just moments later, Bremen were picking the ball out of their net. David Alaba had seen plenty of possession in the opening exchanges, but had yet to find that killer pass. His cross hit off of an unsuspecting Thomas Müller and fell perfectly into Philipp Lahm's path. Striding forward, the Bayern captain struck a sweet volley that flew past Wolf before he could react. Normal service was resumed by the league leaders and they had a collector's item, Lahm's goal, to boot.
Bremen looked shell-shocked and began to invite pressure onto themselves. Xabi Alonso quickly found a second goal for Guardiola's side, with a sumptuous costless-kick. 20 yards out and to the left hand side of the Bremen box, Alonso sent his set-piece under the wall and past a helpless Wolf. Typical of the Spaniard, who oozed class ever since his move to the Bundesliga.
Bayern continued to press for a third, but some resolute defending - especially from Garcia - meant that Højbjerg and Müller couldn't quite get on the score-sheet. As if things couldn't get any worse for Bremen, referee Bastian Dankert awarded a debatable penalty to the home side. Thomas Müller was fouled by Sebastian Prödl, for all the world it looked outside the box, but it Dankert had made up his mind. 'Raumdeuter' dusted himself down and slotted home the penalty, sending Wolf the wrong way.
Just before the half-time whistle, Bayern added insult to injury and notched up a fourth goal. Mario Götze picked up the ball on the edge of the box and despite the attentions of Assani Lukimya, spun his man and curled a delightful shot past a depressed looking Wolf. Another fine goal for the Bavarians was nothing more than they deserved, a first-half of the finest quality was capped with a strike to match.
Both teams made changes at the break; Marnon Busch replaced Eljero Elia, with Bremen content with damage limitation. Bayern's change had Tuesday's clash with AS Roma in mind, Bernat came on for David Alaba. Müller and Götze fluffed a great chances, as neither player made contact with the ball, before Arjen Robben had a penalty appeal turned down - not that it would matter.
The Dutchman was having a day to forget, he blazed over an absolutely glorious chance to make it five, but was immediately replaced by Frank Ribéry. A welcome sight for Bayern fans, who would be more than happy to see one of their key players back on the pitch. Xherdan Shaqiri replaced Xabi Alonso in Bayern's final change, with Alejandro Gálvez taking Felix Kroos' place and Dutt seemed happy to contain their opponents to just the four goals.
Ribéry was a handful as soon as he came on, terrorising Fritz from the get-go. Bremn defender was lucky not to receive a booking for taking down the winger, as the Bavarians continued to assert their dominance. Bayern finally found their fifth goal with 10 minutes to go. Philipp Lahm exchanged passes with Shaqiri, a lovely flicked move, before he slotted past Wolf for his brace. There was time for a late deflected strike from Mario Götze to make it 6-0 and seal his brace, the three points and a wonderful performance in the Allianz Arena.
The win cements Bayern's place at the top of the table, sitting pretty on 20 points - four points clear of Borussia Mönchengladbach. A complete performance from Guardiola's side would send shivers down the side of any team in Europe, three points that would be the perfect warm up for a mid-week trip to Rome.
Bremen remained rooted to the bottom of the Bundesliga, with just four draws and not a single victory from their opening eight matches. They are just one point behind Hamburg and Freiburg, but a win won't be easy when they take on FC Köln next weekend.