FC Bayern Munich won the Sunday afternoon showpiece 5-1 against Borussia Dortmund in a sold-out Allianz Arena, as the Bundesliga champions opened up a huge gap at the top of the table.
Surprisingly good start from Borussia Dortmund
Before kick-off, it was a surprise that Marco Reus was not in Borussia Dortmund's line-up and coach Thomas Tuchel decided to start with Henrikh Mkhitaryan on left wing and Shinji Kagawa on the right. He rotated a lot after the UEFA Europa League game against PAOK Saloniki in the week.
In Bayern Munich's line-up was no real shock, as Douglas Costa, Thomas Müller and Robert Lewandowski started in the attack. Pep Guardiola opted for Thiago instead of Arturo Vidal in starting side and gave World Cup final scorer, Mario Götze, another start in the Bundesliga after an encouraging performance against Dinamo Zagreb in UEFA Champions League.
The match started well, with both teams wanting to score as quickly as possible. Borussia Dortmund had the first chance in the match with a free-kick after David Alaba fouled Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but Ilkay Gündogan's shot was blocked by the wall. Dortmund were well-structured and gave Bayern Munich no chance in the opening stages.
Early goals set-up thrilling second half
Starting 20th minute of the match, Bayern Munich came into play slowly and Douglas Costa had the first noteworthy chance. After a trick against Sokratis, the Brazilian had the chance to shoot but the angle was too tight.
A long ball by Jerome Boateng found on-rushing Thomas Müller in the 26th minute and the striker was able to score after Roman Bürki tried to intercept the ball and failed. He didn't want to go the risk going outside the box and Bavarians got the lucky lead, because Borussia Dortmund were definitely the better team early on.
Not even ten minutes later, Bayern Munich got a penalty after Mkhitaryan felled Thiago in Dortmund's penalty area and Müller scored his brace. Also Marco Fritz made the right call, and the 'Raumdeuter' made no mistake.
Only two minutes after Bayern Munich's second goal, Mkhitaryan passed to Gonzalo Castro on the right wing. The 28-year-old played a long pass into Bayern's box and Javi Martinez lost track of Aubameyang and he brought BVB back into the match, making it 2-1. With this goal the 26-year-old Gabonese forward levelled Klaus Allof's record of scoring in ten consecutive Bundesliga games.
Superb start to second half for Munich
Thomas Tuchel and Pep Guardiola didn't change their teams during the half time break and so the same 22 players started the second half.
Another long ball from Boateng found Lewandowski and Dortmund's defenders were caught out. Bürki didn't have a chance to get to the ball and the Pole netted after a world-class ball and increased the Bavarians' lead to 3-1. It was his 11th goal in four matches. In the 52th minute, Thomas Tuchel decided to bring Adnan Januzaj and Marco Reus on for Shinji Kagawa and Gonzalo Castro.
Chaos in Dortmund's defence
Three minutes after the changes, Bayern had another attempt on goal but Götze didn't find the back of the open net after Müller's pass.
In the 57th minute, both ex-Dortmund players - Götze and Lewandowski - scored the fourth goal. On the right wing, Götze picked up a pass and ran to the by-line before finding Lewandowski. He was unmarked and slotted home for his second goal of the game.
The next goal was scored in 66th minute after chaos in Dortmund's penalty area. Piszczek's rebound from a slid tackle landed at the feet of Mario Götze and he showed once again that he can be really important for Guardiola's team. He finished off any hopes of a Dortmund comeback for good.
Bayern played down the clock, and Marco Fritz blew for full-time at the first chance available and ended Dortmund's misery.
Dortmund couldn't cope with Bayern
Today's match showed once again that Bayern Munich is the better team, despite Dortmund's good start. BVB were caught flat-footed with strikes near the end of first half time and the start of the second.
Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top of the table from four to seven points and the players can go to international break without any worries. On next matchday, Bavarians have to travel to North to play against Werder Bremen.
It is important for Borussia Dortmund that they don't over-think this loss and keep going after international break. BVB will face 1. FSV Mainz 05 on matchday nine in a Fridayevening match.