Gelsenkirchen (Germany) (AFP)
Bayern logically won 4-0 Sunday on the lawn of the Red Lantern Schalke 04, with a double from Thomas Müller and the 23rd goal from Lewandowski in 18 days, and comes away inexorably at the top of the Bundesliga.
The defending champion takes advantage of the missteps of his main rivals this weekend.
Leipzig, beaten against all odds on Saturday 3-2 by the penultimate Mainz, is still second, but pushed back to seven points.
Leverkusen, third, was beaten and joined in the standings by Wolfsburg: these two teams are left behind by 10 points, while Borussia Dortmund sinks into crisis after their 4-2 defeat at Mönchengladbach, which leaves them 13 lengths behind Munich , in seventh position, out of European places.
Against Schalke, who had only 7 points after the 17 first leg, Bavarian coach Hansi Flick had turned a little, leaving in particular the French full-backs Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez on the sidelines at kick-off, as well than their compatriot Kingsley Coman.
The score doesn't quite reflect the face of the game, with Bayern having scored twice in the last three minutes.
From the outset, Schalke played his luck, and the spectacle was there, the two teams obtaining several dangerous situations.
- Diabolical Kimmich -
For thirty minutes, the men of the match were the two goalkeepers.
Manuel Neuer, the best goalkeeper in the world in 2020, has once again shown that he is not content only to shine in the big matches, but that he is there too in the more obscure fights of the freezing Sundays of the Bundesliga.
A huge save on a header from Mark Uth (11th), another on an opposing corner (30th) kept Bayern in the match.
Opposite, his counterpart Ralf Fährmann also managed some class actions, including a phenomenal double save, on a corner from Robert Lewandowski pushed back and the recovery from Serge Gnabry (23rd).
Thomas Müller unlocked the counter in the 33rd minute (1-0), by taking a deep ball with a diabolical precision from the warrior Joshua Kimmich, author of three assists this Sunday.
Kimmich has become Bayern's strongman at 25, both fierce guard dog in front of his defense, number one raiser, and pack leader respected by his partners in difficult times.
- Lewandowski recital -
In the second period, the best Fifa 2020 player Robert Lewandowski continued his recital, with his 23rd goal in 18 days!
Again served by Kimmich from his own camp with a long aerial ball, the Pole managed a perfect ball catch in the middle of the race, before a hook-shot sequence to mystify a defender and the keeper (2-0, 54 ').
He is more than ever in the race to break the half-century-old record of legendary Gerd Müller, his predecessor at Bayern, of 40 goals in one season (1971-72).
At the end of the match, Kimmich delivered his third free-kick assist for the header of Thomas Müller (3-0, 88th), and David Alaba increased the score in the 90th minute (4-0).
Although Schalke was obviously not a formidable opponent, Bayern still showed a better face than in previous matches.
He notably kept his clean sheet for the second time in a row, after conceding a lot of goals in December / January: a good omen before the international deadlines in February, the CC (semi-final on February 8) and his eighth-final of the Champions League, against Lazio Rome (first leg on the 23rd).
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