"Oh, wie ist das schön!" - That's just wonderful: The capacity crowd at the Allianz Arena was boisterous in the closing stages of the Bavarians' top-of-the-table clash with Borussia Dortmund. FC Bayern were 4-1 in the lead at that point, their gala demonstrating they are prepared for Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid. "We turned in a good display, everything was okay. We're ready for Real," commented boss Carlo Ancelotti.
"If you're up against very, very strong opponents who're Champions League last eight hopefuls and you win so convincingly at home, playing like we did today, you can be very, very happy," summarised captain Philipp Lahm after the final whistle. "We had expected a difficult match, but we left Dortmund no chance," declared Arjen Robben. "The way we played today was really good. It was fun, and it boosts our confidence."
Dominant and dangerous
Four days after the unlucky 1-0 defeat away to Hoffenheim FC Bayern aimed to "give the right answer," according to centre-back Jérôme Boateng. The hosts signalled their intent from the off, running a lot, playing vertically and creating danger up front. "We set up our passing game and were dangerous, we did a good job dominating possession and playing aggressively", analysed Lahm, and added: "There wasn't much room for improvement today."
Franck Ribéry and Robert Lewandowski handed Bayern a two-goal lead within the first ten minutes before the strong Robben and again Lewandowski twisted the knife in the second half. "Taken altogether we had no chance today. FC Bayern are at the highest level there is," declared Borussia head coach Thomas Tuchel, whose troops were struggling with a lengthy injury roster, dangerous only in the first half, with Raphael Guerreiro pulling one back after 20 minutes.
'Shift up another gear' against Real
"If you look at this month quite a few challenges await us, so it was important with regard to the Bundesliga that we won today," Lahm commented on the significance of the home victory. Bayern are ten points clear of pursuers RB Leipzig with six matches remaining. Ancelotti's men need three more wins to seal a fifth consecutive championship title in a row.
But first the German record champions focus on Europe's elite club competition as they will entertain their Spanish counterparts Real Madrid on Wednesday evening. "We're up against an absolutely top team who ooze quality at every position. We must live up to our full potential," Lahm said, aware of the difficult task. Robben added: "We'll have to shift up another gear on Wednesday. We'll have to demonstrate from the off that our opponents won't have a chance, and that we want to win the match."
