Michael Olise starred in the absence of Harry Kane as Bayern Munich thrashed Atalanta in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
England captain Kane was only fit enough for a place on the bench after returning from a calf injury.
But Bayern did not need to call upon their striker as they stormed to a crushing success.
Olise shone, playing a part in their three opening goals as the Bundesliga champions took a commanding lead by the 25th minute.
The Frenchman’s quick corner found an unmarked Serge Gnabry to set up Josip Stanisic to finish from close range for the 12th-minute opener.
Olise added the second 10 minutes later with a curling effort, before he sent Gnabry through to clip over the advancing Marco Carnesecchi in the Atalanta goal.
Nicolas Jackson and Jamal Musiala were also on target, their efforts sandwiched by a second for Olise, as Bayern had six by the 67th minute, before a late Mario Pasalic reply for the hosts in Bergamo.
Victory extended their unbeaten run away from home to nine games and put them in a commanding position for the return at Allianz Arena on 18 March.
No Kane, no problem as Bayern ‘deliver’ for Kompany
It was a case of no Kane, no problem for Bayern.
The Bundesliga champions may have been without Europe’s top scorer this season, but that never looked likely to stop them laying down a serious marker in the Champions League when they travelled to Bergamo.
With Olise in electrifying form, Vincent Kompany’s men had all the firepower they needed.
The Frenchman – who, officially, had a hand in half of his side’s six goals – stole the show as the Germans showed why they are contenders to become European champions for a seventh time.
After his performance at the New Balance Arena, Olise became the first French midfielder since Zinedine Zidane in 1998 to record seven or more goal contributions in consecutive Champions League campaigns.
Back in Germany, the 24-year-old’s 10 goals and 18 assists in 23 outings has helped his side open up an 11-point gap over Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga.
The Bavarian club – who finished second behind Arsenal in the league phase – made it eight wins from nine games in Europe this season as they became only the second team in Champions League history to beat Atalanta by a five-goal margin.
“That was the kind of performance we wanted. We were dangerous right throughout the match,” said Kompany on Prime Video.
“We’ve got talent and quality in the team, so it’s no surprise when the lads deliver like this.”
What was a surprise, perhaps, was how Bayern claimed such a dominant success without Kane, who has been directly involved in 33 goals in 33 Champions League games for Bayern (27 goals, 6 assists) – more than any other player in the competition since the start of the 2023-24 season.
Source: bbc.com