Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich showed why they are the Champions-elect after seeing off a spirited Köln side at the Allianz. A ferocious start led to Bastian Schweinsteiger and Franck Ribery giving the home side a two-goal lead early on. Anthony Ujah halved the deficit only for Arjen Robben and Robert Lewandowski to seal the three points.
Bayern Munich surged forward in the opening couple of minutes, pressing Köln back and earning a succession of corners, one of which gave them the lead after just over two minutes of play. Arjen Robben’s corner was met by a thumping header from Bastian Schweinsteiger which flew past a helpless Timo Horn – who had a made a good save to concede the corner.
It was 2-0 after only 10 minutes as Franck Ribery cut inside and unleashed a low shot right into Horn’s bottom right corner.
In a rare foray forward, the visitors won a an indirect freekick in the box after Manuel Neuer was penalised for picking up Jerome Boateng’s pass back under pressure. Poland's talisman Lewandowski then saw a fierce effort parried away by the young German keeper midway through the first half.
The Billy Goats were back in it with the final kick (well, header) of the half as Matthias Lehmann produced a cross for Anthony Ujah to nod home.
After the break, the game was much more open with both sides creating good chances, the away side in particular forcing Neuer into two good saves, first from Ujah and then a fingertip save from a stinging half-volley from Marcel Risse.
However, it was the Bavarians who further extended their lead when Ribery dinked a ball to the back-post for league top-scorer Robben to produce a deft header with 23 minutes left.
Köln responded again with substitute Daniel Halfar seeing his effort well saved by the World Cup winner. But from that corner, Bayern broke in frighteningly ruthless fashion, Ribery drove forward, put in Robben who chipped the ball over Horn for Lewandowski to chest in an easy tap in and complete the victory.