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Bayern Munich Barca-esque in humiliation of Hannover
 BAYERN MUNICH 7
Olic 21,49, Robben 30,50,90, Müller 44,62
 HANNOVER 0
Arjen Robben scored a sublime hat-trick as Bayern Munich mercilessly steamrollered a pitiful Hannover 96 side at the Allianz Arena on Saturday evening. Earlier in the afternoon fellow title contenders Schalke 04 beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 to temporarily regain top spot by the solitary point, but Bayern put on a blistering exhibition of football from the first whistle until the last as they tortured relegation-threatened Hannover.
The fact that Bayern held on to their position at the summit of the Bundesliga last weekend was ironically thanks to Hannover, as they inflicted a somewhat embarrassing 4-2 defeat on Schalke to give themselves fresh hope of avoiding the dreaded drop at the same time as giving Bayern a helping hand in their search for a 22nd Bundesliga title. That result prompted Bayern Coach Louis van Gaal to warn his players of carelessness before the game, stating Hannover have improved defensively in recent weeks: “Hannover have a different playing style under their new Coach (Mirko Slomka) - very defensive and very organised.” Van Gaal implicitly questioned whether his men would have enough energy, as a result of still challenging for three different honours, to break Hannover’s rearguard down. The scoreline yells an emphatic ‘yes’ in response.
Bayern more than resembled the breathtaking Barcelona performances against Arsenal in their Champions League quarter-final - their supreme quality on the ball, mobility off it and indefatigable attitude making them simply irresistible. Hannover did not have a hope in coping with the movement of Bayern’s players. With Robben and Franck Ribéry causing chaos on the flanks, aided by full-backs Philipp Lahm and Diego Contento, the Hannover players soon had scrambled brains and twisted limbs, and by half-time, with the Champions League semi-finalists 3-0 up, they were begging for mercy. Although they were up against a side with just 27 points to their name and sitting second from bottom in the table, most teams in Europe would have struggled to deal with Bayern’s quick one-twos, subtle flicks of skill and buzzing energy that came swarming at their helpless opposition time after time.
The quality of Bayern’s passing was a joy to watch and the second, and best goal of the game, Robben’s first, illustrated Bastian Schweinsteiger’s passing ability brilliantly. After robbing Hanno Balitisch of the ball in midfield, his wonderfully weighted through-ball meant Robben only had to take one touch before chipping delightfully over the goalkeeper in a finish eerily similar to Lionel Messi’s already iconic third against Arsenal at the Nou Camp just two weeks ago.
With all three of Bayern’s remaining fixtures against teams in the bottom half of the table, it is now almost unthinkable that they could hand the title back into Schalke’s grateful mitts. Despite Hannover’s predicament, this result does not actually do too much physical harm. With Freiburg triumphing over fellow relegation battlers Nürnberg this weekend, the bottom of the table still looks outrageously tight, and Hannover still have every chance to pull themselves out of the mire. However, it is so tight in fact, that goal difference may well end up deciding who goes down - Hannover now have the worst in the league at -29.
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