Berlin (AFP)
Two double from Lewandowski and Gnabry, and Bayern relaunched in the Bundesliga by atomizing Cologne 5-1 on Saturday, to put the pressure on its runner-up Leipzig, which hosts Mönchengladbach at 6.30 p.m.
After two consecutive matches without a win in the league (a draw, a defeat), the defending champion relied as usual on his fiery attack to sweep the 14th in the standings and temporarily push the RB to 5 points.
Robert Lewandowski, best Fifa player 2020, scored twice (2-0, 33rd and 3-1, 65th) to bring his total to 28 goals in 23 days.
The Pole is now well ahead of the all-time record of 40 goals in 34 days, set by the legendary Gerd "Bomber" Müller in 1971-72.
Eric Choupo-Moting, the former Paris SG, opened the scoring in the 18th minute (1-0) and Serge Gnabry, entered as joker, drew the final bouquet at the end of the match (4-1, 82nd and 5 -1, 86th).
This Bayern of all records, which we readily designate as the best team in the world since this summer, is strangely not a balanced formation.
The Bavarians turn to almost three goals per game on average in the league (2.9), and even a little more than three in the Champions League.
They have scored at least one goal in their last 36 league games, their last 0-0 dating back to February 9, 2020 against Leipzig.
But their defense is surprisingly poor for a team that dominates its competitions to this point: 32 goals already conceded (against 18 for Leipzig, best defense).
Bayern have returned a clean sheet (a game without conceding a goal) only three times in their last 18 outings.
"Even today, we lost balls too easily", admitted Choupo-Moting, "it costs us strength, it gives confidence to the opponent. But we still had a good game and it's a deserved victory ".
Rarely, none of the six French "Rekordmeister" started at kick-off, and only Lucas Hernandez came into play in the 72nd minute.
- Dortmund looks up -
Leipzig, at 6.30 p.m., will have a more difficult task against Borussia Mönchengladbach, a team currently far from its ambitions, in 8th position, but which remains formidable offensively, in particular thanks to its French duo Alassane Pléa-Marcus Thuram.
In the other matches, Wolfsburg seized third place alone with a convincing victory against Hertha Berlin (2-0), seven points behind the leader.
Wolfsburg is, along with Frankfurt, the fittest team in the Bundesliga in 2021. The "Wolves" have just played eight consecutive matches without conceding a goal!
They haven't lost since January 3 (six wins, three draws).
Dortmund, which is coming out of its recent crisis, has again taken three points against play-off Bielefeld (3-0) but still remains out of the top-4 qualifier for the Champions League, its official goal.
His neighbor and rival Schalke, historic monument of German football, continues its descent into Hell with a 5-1 defeat in Stuttgart.
Always red lantern, the Gelsenkirchen team took only 9 points this season (only one victory, six draws) and stagnated at 9 lengths of the barrage Bielefeld.
© 2021 AFP