European and German champions Bayern Munich began the new season from where they had left in the last as they defeated Schalke 8-0 in their opening match of Bundesliga 2020-21.
The eight-goal win on Friday comes five weeks after Bayern had defeated Barcelona 8-2 in the semi-final of last season’s Champions League.
Serge Gnabry scored a hat-trick, while Leon Goretzka, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane and debutant Jamal Musiala also appeared on the scoresheet.
For cash-strapped Schalke, the result meant that they continued their miserable performance of last season. David Wagner’s side have now gone 17 games without a win.
Gnabry opened the scoring at the Allianz Arena where fans were supposed to be allowed on Thursday but were restricted in the last moment. The Munich mayor decided against gathering of spectators after a recent spike in coronavirus cases there.
Gnabry’s first goal of the night came just in the fourth minute of the match when he produced a brilliant display of finishing skills leaving Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Faehrmann with no chance.
The second Bayern Munich goal came in the 19th minute when former Schalke player Goretzka hit bottom corner of the net from the edge of the box.
Last season’s top scorer in Europe, Lewandowski, made it 3-0 in the 31st minute when he converted a penalty which was won by him following a foul by Schalke defender Ozan Kabak.
The Polish striker extended his scoring streak against Schalke to 10 matches now, which had begun way back in 2016, including a hat-trick in last August’s 3-0 win over the Royal Blues in Gelsenkirchen.
The scoreline went 4-0 in Bayern’s favour within two minutes after the break as a sprinting Sane found Gnabry for the latter to fire home the delivery into an empty net.
The pair combined again after 10 minutes or so when Sane chased the ball down and rolled it to Gnabry who was waiting at the right place to net the ball and claim his hat-trick.
Muller made it 6-0 in the 69th minute mark when Lewandowski cut Schalke’s defence into pieces and assisted the Germany international.
The records were sent tumbling as Sane marked his debut with the seventh on 71 minutes when he sprinted onto Joshua Kimmich’s superb pass and fired home with Lewandowski unmarked outside him.
Musiala, who only turned 17 in February, became the club’s youngest scorer in the Bundesliga when he darted in from the left wing to add the eighth on 81 minutes.