Bayern crushes Salzburg 7-1 with Lewandowski hat trick

MUNICH, Germany — Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski grabbed the earliest hat trick in Champions League history with three goals by the 23rd minute as the Germans steamrollered Salzburg 7-1 on Tuesday to book a place in the quarterfinals with an 8-2 aggregate score.

The 33-year-old Poland striker scored three times in an 11-minute spell as he opened his account with two almost identical penalties in the 12th and 21st before netting on the break two minutes later for his fifth hat trick ever in the competition.

The last-16 tie was all but over by the half-hour mark when Serge Gnabry beat beleaguered Salzburg goalkeeper Philipp Koehn with a low shot to make it 4-0 before a Thomas Mueller double and Leroy Sane strike in the second half wrapped up the win.

“This was a statement, an exclamation mark,” said Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer.

Bayern, who has been unpredictable in the Bundesliga this year, have now scored seven or more goals in a Champions League game for a record seventh time.

“We started well and presented ourselves differently from recent weeks. That gives you hope that this will go on. You could see from the start that we had a good attitude,” said Neuer.

The Bayern goalkeeper also set a record with his 104th appearance in the competition, overtaking current German club CEO Oliver Kahn as the Bayern goalkeeper with the most games in the Champions League.

Salzburg had two golden chances early in the game and came agonisingly close to an equalizer in the 15th minute when Neuer, back from a knee injury, pulled off the save of the game to tip Nicolas Seiwald’s missile over the bar.

But even though Salzburg had not conceded more than two goals in a competitive match this season, they could do nothing to stop in-form Lewandowski.

The Pole twice forced defender Maximilian Woeber to fell him for a penalty before beating him again on the rebound for his third goal.

Worse was to come after the break when Mueller turned beautifully in the box to drill in the fifth goal in the 54th.

“The game was of huge importance for us,” Mueller said. “Had we been eliminated today, we would have faced three sad months and people would be rightly questioning things.”

“We had some chances but if you don’t make them count, it’s difficult. It had nothing to do with attitude, focus or the match plan. They simply were better in all aspects — that’s it.” — Reuters