Bayern Munich made four changes to the side that thrashed ten-man Shakthar Donetsk 7-0 in their second leg UEFA Champions League tie in midweek, the big team news was that former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina made his first start of the season, in place of experienced regular, and arguably the best goalkeeper in the world, Manuel Neuer.
Bremen on the other hand, were not expected to be pushovers at home, especially with the attacking threat they have in their squad - young promising striker Davie Selke and free-kick specialist Zlatko Junuzovic were amongst their starting line-up, as they looked to give the defending champions a run for their money.
The game started rapidly for the hosts, they narrowly missed two half-chances from Gebre Selassie and Oztunali in the space of two minutes as Reina looked hesitant and nervous in goal; becoming Bayern's second only non-German 'keeper to play a first-team game in their entire history. After this fast start to proceedings, Bayern looked to dictate the pace of the game, slowing down the tempo and dominating the possession stats as they looked to get forward and hit Werder effectively.
It was like a tense game of chess, where Bremen were awaiting the visitors' next move with their loud home support cheering them on but were unsure of Pep Guardiola's game plan in the early minutes. In the 13th minute, a lofted ball into the box by Rafinha found the head of Robert Lewandowski whose powerful header was superbly parried away by Bremen 'keeper Raphael Wolf, out for a corner-kick. The resulting delivery did not trouble Wolf, who did well to jump highest and claim the danger before smothering the ball in his gloves and giving his side a breather from the intense amount of pressure they were being put under.
The scoreline could have easily been in Bayern's favour before the 15th minute mark, something manager Viktor Skrypnyk would have been aware of, as he tried to ensure his side could nullify the defending champions. In the 23rd minute, Bremen's defence was eventually broken. After a good initial save from Wolf, who rushed off his line to intercept the danger, he could get nowhere near Thomas Muller's curling left-foot strike which arrowed into the bottom corner of the net to open the scoring.
Not much happened after Muller's opener in truth, with Bayern shutting out Bremen's attempted runs forward effectively and keeping hold of the ball for the majority of the first-half. Mario Gotze danced past his defensive marker before being brought down on the edge of the box - the resulting free-kick effort was cooly taken by David Alaba, whose curling strike swerved away from Wolf and flew into the back of the net, to make it 2-0 just on the stroke of the half-time interval!
In the second-half, Bayern did their best to keep their scoreline intact and eventually try to stop Bremen completely. A succession of feisty tackles, controversial challenges and handball decisions for the referee to have to contend with, it added a little bite to the affair at the Wederstadion, with referee Thorsten Kinhöfer having a lot to deal with in the second 45.
Benatia, Prödl, Junuzovic, Boateng and Garcia all went into the referee's book within five minutes of each other, which just reiterates how harsh the game turned out to be early in the second-half of play.
The visitors all but sealed the three points in the 77th minute, after a quick counter attack saw Muller drive forward towards the ball on the flank, before chipping the 'keeper as the ball bounced into the path of Lewandowski, who simply could not miss from close range with a headed effort into the back of an empty net to make it 3-0 and comfortable for Guardiola's men.
Bayern captain and full-back turned defensive-midfielder Phillip Lahm, returning from injury, came on with ten minutes to play, in place of Mario Götze, to a warm reception from the visiting crowd inside the ground. Dante and Weiser also came on off the substitutes' bench, in place of Boateng and Rafinha respectively in the latter stages.
A low through ball from Muller on the far side split the Bremen defence in half with seeming ease, giving Lewandowski the space to slot into the net from a narrow angle at the far post, with just seconds remaining of the match, to make it 4-0. The referee put the hosts out of their misery, by blowing the full-time whistle moments later, to cap off an efficient display from Bayern, with the scoreline flattering them ever so slightly despite their good performance overall.