Thomas Müller has to miss Bayern’s goal fest against Freiburg. But his substitute plays great. Choupo-Moting shines as a centre forward, Sané as a ten. Bayern are on the hunt for the Union.

Now the suddenly goal-hungry Bavarians are the first hunters of Eisern Union. In the top match of the Bundesliga, the serial champions, even without their leading wolves Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller, impressively dominated SC Freiburg, who started off briskly but were still winless in their 23rd appearance in Munich, 5:0 (2:0). The brilliant attacking players Serge Gnabry (13th minute), Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (33rd), Leroy Sané (53rd) and Sadio Mané (56th) as well as substitute Marcel Sabitzer (80th) ensured a Bayern goal fest in the Allianz Arena on Sunday evening in front of 75,000 spectators.

With 19 points, FC Bayern moved past Freiburg (18) in the table, but are still four points behind surprise leaders Union Berlin, who made another statement in their 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund on matchday 10.

Noble reserve Choupo-Moting provided the story of the game. Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann called on the 33-year-old veteran to play as a centre forward because Müller, the designated leader, had to withdraw due to muscular problems. So Bayern once again played with a classic nine – and did so magnificently.

At 1:0, Choupo-Moting was the starting point of the move with a fine alley pass to Alphonso Davies, which Gnabry finished off with a well-judged header. Choupo-Moting then scored his first Bundesliga goal since February in classic centre-forward style after receiving a pass from the strong Sané. He beat Philipp Lienhart and scored with a right-footed shot into the far corner.

After the break, Munich’s morale was broken against the visitors from Südbaden – and it continued with the flywheels Choupo-Moting and Sané. First, Choupo-Moting set up Gnabry with his heel – a goal against the post (52nd). Then Sané played a one-two with Choupo-Moting and scored wonderfully to make it 3:0, which Mané followed up with a perfect pass from Gnabry with a sensitive lob over SC goalkeeper Mark Flekken for goal number four. Freiburg’s 20th defeat in Munich was sealed.

The Sportclub was only in the game in the early stages. Coach Christian Streich’s team pressed courageously, but missed the opportunities for offensive pinpricks, as in a counterattack that captain Christian Günter wasted (26th). Goalkeeper Flekken kept the Breisgauer in the game for a while with a few saves.

But the Bayern pros ultimately fulfilled the mandate of board boss Oliver Kahn, which was: “The results in the Bundesliga are not the demand we all have. We have to develop greed again.” Greed for the eleventh championship title in a row. But first, Munich’s perennial champions must give chase to Union Berlin.