Bayern crush Freiburg 4-0 before Arsenal European clash

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich crushed Freiburg 4-0 on Saturday, recording their 13th successive victory and extending their league unbeaten streak to 46.

It was perfect preparation for Wednesday’s Champions League knockout round clash at Arsenal with Bayern coach Pep Guardiola taking the opportunity to rest four key players: Jerome Boateng, David Alaba, Thiago and Mario Goetze.

Bayern’s reserves took full advantage of their chances in a furious first half with Switzerland midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri scoring twice off deflected shots in the first half after defender Dante put Munich ahead in the 19th minute with a glancing header.

Bayern, in fine form after thumping Hamburg SV 5-0 in a German Cup quarter-final match on Wednesday and beating Nuremberg 2-0 last Saturday, shifted down a gear in the second half but still controlled the match.

Claudio Pizarro gave the 71,000 fans in the Allianz Arena a final chance to cheer, scoring after a fine solo run from the left in the 88th minute to put Bayern 16 points clear of Bayer Leverkusen at the top with 59 points from 21 matches.

“Now we’ve got Arsenal ahead of us and we’ll need to have our best possible performance to win,” said Guardiola. “We’ll have to play at a very high level to advance.”

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