Jamal Musiala scored once and set up two more goals as champions Bayern Munich cruised past Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 to end a four-game winless run in the Bundesliga and climb into second place.
The Germany international delivered a superb performance for a confidence-boosting win ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League group game against Viktoria Plzen and the big Bundesliga match against Borussia Dortmund next weekend.
“I think it is still too early. We have to play more games like that so we can’t just say now we are back,” Musiala said.
“Everyone in the team wanted to win today. There was pressure on each and every one of us. We all want to be number one and we showed it today. Pressure is always there at Bayern.”
Leroy Sane, Musiala and Sadio Mane scored first-half goals as Bayern bounced back from three draws and a defeat to move within two points of leaders Union Berlin. Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky’s late slip allowed Thomas Muller to slot into an empty net.
The win saw Bayern end their worst Bundesliga run for 20 years, while Bayer Leverkusen have now made their worst start to a Bundesliga season for 40 years, with defeat dropping them into the relegation zone.
How Bayern cruised past Leverkusen…
Thomas Mueller celebrates after scoring Bayern’s fourth
In a frenzied start, Musiala set up Sane for their first goal in the third minute to settle nerves in the Allianz Arena as the Bavarians were desperate to bounce back following their recent dip in form and their longest run without a win in 20 years.
The 19-year-old attacking midfielder terrorised the Leverkusen defence throughout the game and turned scorer in the 17th minute after a one-two with Mueller and a slightly deflected shot.
He then helped Mane end his five-game goal drought, picking out the Senegalese in the box who sent another deflected effort past goalkeeper Hradecky for his first goal in front of a home crowd.
Musiala has now scored five times in the league and set up three goals.
The icing on Bayern’s cake came in the 84th minute when Hradecky slipped in the box to send the ball directly into Mueller’s path for their fourth goal.
The win lifted Bayern into second place in the Bundesliga on 15 points, two behind leaders Union Berlin, who travel to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Fellow Champions League club, Bayer Leverkusen, who travel to Porto on Tuesday, slumped deeper into trouble, dropping to 16th in the league.
Coach Gerardo Seoane’s team have won just one of their eight Bundesliga matches so far after finishing in third place last season.
Marseille beat Angers to go top
Marseille took over top spot in Ligue 1 with a comfortable 3-0 win at Angers.
France defender Jonathan Clauss opened the scoring from a tight angle after 35 minutes.
Clauss then set up Luis Suarez and Gerson in the second half as Marseille moved one point clear of Paris St Germain before their weekend game against Nice.
Athletic Bilbao up to third after big win over Almeria
Athletic Bilbao moved into third place in La Liga by beating Almeria 4-0 at San Mames.
Inaki Williams and Oihan Sancet struck inside the opening 17 minutes to put Bilbao in command.
Nico Williams and Mikel Vesga, with a late penalty, wrapped up the win.
