Jupp Heynckes’ side are 20 points ahead of second-placed Schalke and require just eight points from their remaining nine games to clinch top spot again.

Alexander Schwolow’s own goal and Corentin Tolisso’s spectacular strike gave Bayern a 2-0 half-time lead.

Sandro Wagner and Thomas Muller netted two more in the second half for an emphatic victory.

Bayern are heavy favourites to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League following a 5-0 first-leg thrashing of Besiktas in their last-16 tie, with the return game taking place on Wednesday, 14 March.

They face Bayer Leverkusen in the semi-finals of the German Cup next month.

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Source: BBC Sport

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The hosts won their 14th consecutive game after a dominant second half against Besiktas, who had Domagoj Vida sent off after 16 minutes.

Thomas Muller converted from close range in both halves, and Kingsley Coman also swept home.

Top-scorer Robert Lewandowski added two more for Bayern as Besiktas tired.

Besiktas, who won all three of their away games in qualifying from Group G, started brightly with Vagner Love shooting just over and Ricardo Quaresma forcing Bayern keeper Sven Ulreich to save at his near post.

But Jupp Heynckes’ men had 35 shots to their opponents’ six, and are well placed to reach the quarter-finals for the seventh year in a row when they travel to Istanbul for the second leg on 14 March.

Muller helps thwart Gunes’ golden oldies

Bayern had over 68% possession against Besiktas

As soon as Bayern’s ever-reliable skipper Muller found himself in the right place to sweep through the legs of Besiktas keeper Fabri just before half-time, the win almost became a formality.

Heynckes’ side were unbeaten in the previous 61 competitive matches in which the 28-year-old Germany international has scored.

It is the eighth season in a row he has scored in the knockout phase, and Muller has netted in each of his two Champions League starts at the Allianz Arena this season.

Even with the omens stacked in their favour, Bayern did not immediately have it all their own way after Vida’s red card.

Despite naming the oldest starting line-up in the Champions League in six years, Besiktas made the hosts sweat in the first half.

Brave, energetic and enterprising going forward, Senol Gunes’ team created those big chances for Love and the well-travelled Quaresma, who has played for eight clubs including Barcelona and Chelsea but still possesses enough pace to make defenders worry.

He may have been optimistic in the first half, but Gunes seemed to opt for damage limitation just before the hour mark when he replaced striker Love with defender Dusko Tosic.

It was not enough to stop a rampant Bayern. Their front three of Lewandowski, Coman and the talismanic Muller, who was shrewdly rested in their previous Bundesliga win over Wolfsburg, had 16 shots between them and two assists.

Aided by the sharp instincts of full-backs David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich they suitably warmed the home fans on a night of -3C temperatures.

Man of the match – Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)

Muller and Lewandowski make Champions League pedigree count – the stats

• Only Cristiano Ronaldo (56) and Lionel Messi (38) have scored more goals in the Champions League knockout phase than Muller (21).
• Lewandowski has scored 19 goals in his past 17 Champions League appearances at the Allianz Arena.
• Bayern have won their past five Champions League games, the longest current run in the competition.
• Bayern have won 20 of their past 21 Champions League games at the Allianz Arena, the only exception coming against Real Madrid in last season’s quarter-final (2-1).
• Besiktas’ starting 11 had an average age of 31 years, 151 days – the oldest side they have fielded in the competition and the oldest in the Champions League since Apoel Nicosia on 3 March, 2012, v Lyon (31 years, 262 days).
• The two earliest red cards in the Champions League this season have both come at Bayern for fouls on Lewandowski – Sven Kums for Anderlecht in September (11th minute) and Vida (16th minute).
• Bayern attempted 20 shots in the first half. The most in the first half of a Champions League game was also by Bayern – in October 2013 against Viktoria Plzen (21).

What’s next?

Bayern face Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday, 24 February (14:30 GMT) while Besiktas play Fenerbahce on Sunday, 25 February (16:00).

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Source: BBC Sport

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Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal secured victory for Bayern with his fourth goal in his past four Bundesliga games.

He met Joshua Kimmich’s cross at the far post and headed it in beyond Frankfurt goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.

Marius Wolf was sent off before a consultation with the Virtual Assistant Referee saw it reduced to yellow.

The referee dismissed the Frankfurt forward for a second-half challenge on James Rodriguez but changed his mind after viewing it again on a monitor.

Bayern’s win means they are guaranteed to be top of the table at Christmas for a record 23rd time.

RB Leipzig were undone by a late Emil Berggreenstrike as they drew 2-2 with Mainz.

Borussia Dortmund have now gone nine games without a win after they were beaten 2-1 by Werder Bremen.

Kai Havertz and Lars Bender both scored as Bayer Leverkusen won 2-0 at Stuttgart. Borussia Monchengladbach drew 1-1 with Schalke, while Hamburg and Wolfsburg played out a goalless draw.

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Source: BBC Sport

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Robert Lewandowski scored twice to seal his side’s victory while Bayern’s closest rivals RB Leipzig lost valuable ground as they were held to a 2-2 draw at 10-man Bayer Leverkusen.

Bayern breezed to victory over their struggling Bavarian rivals with Arturo Vidal opening the scoring on the half-hour mark before Lewandowski maintained his stunning recent scoring record with a brace either side of half-time.

Augsburg, beaten 6-0 in the equivalent fixture last season with Lewandowski netting a hat-trick, were lucky to avoid the same fate as Vidal hit the bar late on and Arjen Robben and Joshua Kimmich also came close.

Timo Werner struck RB Leipzig ahead from the penalty spot at Bayer Leverkusen as his side looked to build on their win over Hannover two weeks ago and stay firmly in the title race.

Leon Bailey equalised on the stroke of half-time for the hosts, but Leipzig went back in front from another penalty in the 54th minute, Emil Forsberg converting after a handball by Benjamin Henrichs that earned the substitute a red card after just six minutes on the pitch.

But the visitors were still unable to cling on for the win as Leverkusen striker Kevin Volland grabbed a point with a superb finish with 16 minutes left on the clock.

Brazilian striker Raffael scored twice as Borussia Monchengladbach won 4-2 away to Hertha Berlin.

Thorgan Hazard scored for Monchengladbach against Hertha Berlin

Lars Stindl and a Thorgan Hazard penalty put the visitors 2-0 up inside the first 14 minutes before Raffael netted his first to make it 3-0 with 20 minutes gone.

Hertha launched a strong comeback with Vedad Ibisevic and Mitchell Weiser reducing the deficit to a single goal before Raffael sealed his side’s win with his second on 77 minutes.

Fourth-placed Hoffenheim’s recent frustrations continued as they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Eintracht Frankfurt to make it just one Bundesliga win in six for Julian Nagelsmann’s side.

Kevin Boateng put the visitors ahead in the 13th minute and they looked like holding on for three points that would have taken them above their opponents in the table until Mark Uth struck to salvage a point in injury time.

Wolfsburg put further valuable space between themselves and the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Freiburg.

Yannick Gerhardt gave Wolfsburg an early lead before Yunus Malli added a second on the half-hour. Freiburg briefly reduced the deficit through Bartosz Kapustka, but Malli’s second killed the game off 20 minutes from time.

Cologne remain stranded at the bottom of the table after another defeat, this time at Mainz where Daniel Brosinski’s 43rd-minute penalty gave the hosts a 1-0 win despite the 73rd-minute dismissal of Giulio Donati.

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Source: Sky Sports

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Bayern dismissed Carlo Ancelotti last week following their 3-0 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, with his assistant Willy Sagnol taking charge of team affairs. Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel had been linked with the vacancy but Heynckes will be unveiled as the Italian’s successor, taking over until the end of the 2017-18 season.

Bayern are without a win in their last three matches in all competitions and are five points off the Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund.

Following the 2013 treble Heynckes, who has also managed in Spain at Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, as well as in Portugal with Benfica, said: “I can assure you that I’m not going to coach again. I had a worthy farewell.”

Source: The Guardian

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The Italian, who led Bayern to the Bundesliga title last season having been appointed to replace Pep Guardiola last summer, was dismissed after a meeting of the club’s board on Thursday. Earlier, Bayern’s chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had called for “consequences” following the loss at the Parc des Princes, which was the club’s heaviest defeat in the Champions League group stages for 21 years.

“What we’ve seen tonight was not Bayern Munich,” he said.

Ancelotti’s assistant Willy Sagnol, former Borussia Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel and Hoffenheim’s Julian Nagelsmann are among the early favourites to succeed him, with Sagnol to take temporary charge for the trip to face Hertha Berlin on Sunday.

Bayern have also endured a difficult start to the Bundesliga season, losing at Hoffenheim in their third match and being held to a 2-2 draw at home to Wolfsburg last Friday.

Speaking after the defeat to PSG, Ancelotti had admitted his side had been too slow out the blocks against their chief rivals to finish top Group B after falling behind to Dani Alves’ goal in the second minute. “We had a bad start. After the early opener we had to change our strategy completely,” he said. “We had to take control, and we had chances too. But it wasn’t so easy after the goal, that was the problem. We didn’t have the right balance, their counter-attacks were too strong.”

But postmatch comments from Arjen Robben hinted that all was not well within the Bayern camp. Asked if he still backed his manager, the Dutchman replied: “I won’t answer this question. The lineup is the coach’s business. I will say nothing about it. Every

Asked if he still backed his manager, the Dutchman replied: “I won’t answer this question. The lineup is the coach’s business. I will say nothing about it. Every word, in this case, would be one too many. The important thing is that we stick together now as a team. We need peace. Anyone who now wears his dissatisfaction on the outside does not help the team.”

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Source: Guardian UK

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The 31-year-old World Cup winner sustained the same injury to the same foot in April and suffered a repeat in training on Monday.

Bayern are in the same Champions League group as Celtic and Neuer will miss their remaining five games.

“The operation went perfectly, which is the most important thing for now,” said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

“We are now looking to the future. Manuel will be back to his previous best and available in January.”

Bayern, who began their Champions League campaign with a win over Anderlecht, next face Paris St-Germain in France before hosting Celtic on 18 October.

Sven Ulreich, a 29-year-old who has made 12 competitive appearances for the German champions since signing from Stuttgart in 2015, is now favourite to start those games.

Neuer picked up the original injury during the Champions League quarter-final second-leg defeat by Real Madrid in April.

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Source: BBC Sport

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Reinhard Rauball, the DFL president, wants to move the German deadline to August 1, after the Premier League’s clubs voted to move theirs to August 9, 2018.

The subject will be discussed at a meeting in December and, if the motion is passed, Rauball wants the deadline to be adopted across Europe and will consider putting forward proposals to UEFA.

Reinhard Rauball wants to push forward further proposals to UEFA

Rauball told SportBILD: “I will bring forward a motion to shorten the transfer period. If a corresponding decision is taken, it would be put to vote at the member’s meeting in December.

“If the majority of the 36 professors are in favour, a corresponding application will have to be sent to the international federations via the DFB.

“This year, there has been trading that is no longer justifiable. That’s why a peg must be put in. You can do it that way. ”

The DFB chief has also called for an examination of FFP rules

The December meeting will consist of the DFL, Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs and, like the Premier League, changes would come into effect for next summer.

Rauball has also called for Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules to be examined after Paris Saint-Germain, whose transfer dealings are being investigated by UEFA, signed Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

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Source: Sky Sports

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Over the summer Bayern signed Corentina Tolisso from Lyon, Niklas Sule from Hoffenheim and Kingsley Coman on a permanent deal from Juventus, as well as James Rodriguez on loan from Real Madrid.

Lewandowski recently told Der Spiegel he wanted the Bavarians to compete for the best in the transfer market, with Paris Saint-Germain signing Neymar for £198m and Kylian Mbappe during the summer window, while Barcelona paid £97m plus add-ons for Ousmane Dembele.

The Polish striker said: “Bayern will have to come up with something and be creative if the club wants to keep bringing world-class players to Munich. And if you want to compete at the top, you need to have these quality players.”

However, Rummenigge has taken exception to his remarks and slammed Lewandowski, whose agent said the player was “disappointed” over a perceived lack of support in his hunt for the golden boot last season.

“It would be a pity, if he actually saw it that way. Loyalty is part of Bayern’s DNA and very important to our fans,” Rummenigge told Bild.

PSG signed Kylian Mbappe and Neymar this summer

“For a long time now we have a serious and successful philosophy that brought us big success. I stick with our chancellor who said the fees should be regulated and reduced.

“Obviously Robert was irritated by PSG’s transfers. He is employed with us as a football player and earns a lot of money. I regret what he said.

“Whoever publicly criticises the club or his team-mates will get in trouble with me personally. He already made false claims last season following the Freiburg match, where he claimed he had not been supported enough.

Lewandowski joined Bayern Munich in 2014

“I don’t think the player’s might is that high. And Lewandowski can see that when he looks at his contract. He signed until 2021 without an exit clause.

“Regrettably his agent often is his ‘Spiritus Rector’ [guiding light]. That was the case here, too. The interview was consciously organised around Bayern. He harms Robert with that.”

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Source: Sky Sports

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The Colombia international’s future at the Bernabeu had been in doubt after he was left out of Real’s squad for the Champions League final win over Juventus last month.

Manchester United had been linked with a move for the 25-year-old and his agent is also believed to have offered him to Chelsea, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan and Juventus.

But Rodriguez, who joined Real in 2014 for around £71m from Monaco, has opted for a move to German champions Bayern to play under former boss Carlo Ancelotti, who brought him to the Spanish capital.

Rodriguez scored 36 goals in 111 appearances for Real

“We’re delighted we’ve been able to complete this transfer,” said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

“Signing James Rodríguez was our coach Carlo Ancelotti’s biggest wish, following their successful spell working together in Madrid.

“James is a very versatile player. He’s a goalscorer himself, he sets up a lot of goals and on top of that he’s great from set-pieces. There’s no question that this transfer further increases the quality in our team.”

We look at James Rodriguez’s La Liga goals last season

Rodriguez moves to Bayern on a loan deal until June 30, 2019. He will sign his contract in Munich after successfully completing a medical.

A statement on Bayern’s website says the attacking midfielder will join his new team-mates on Sunday for Bayern’s 12-day Audi Summer Tour to China and Singapore.

Rodriguez rose to prominence after finishing top goal scorer at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with six goals.

Rodriguez was left out of the Real Madrid’s squad for last season’s Champions League final

Those performances caught the eye of Real Madrid and since moving to the Bernabeu he has won the Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup twice as well as the La Liga title.

He made 111 appearances for Real, scoring 36 goals and producing 41 assists.

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Source: Sky Sports

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