Bayern Munich warmed up for Wednesday’s crucial Champions League quarter-final at Benfica with a 3-1 win at Stuttgart on Saturday to maintain their iron-grip on the Bundesliga title race with five games left.
An own goal from Stuttgart defender Georg Niedermeier and a second-half David Alaba strike put Pep Guardiola’s Bayern 2-0 up.
Daniel Didavi pulled a goal back for Stuttgart with an hour gone as he recovered from stumbling in the area to chip home while lying on the floor before Brazil winger Douglas Costa blasted in Bayern’s late third.
The win gave Bayern three more points in their quest to become the first club to win four successive German league titles ahead of their return leg in Benfica with Bayern holding a 1-0 lead.
“Now we need three more (league) wins and a draw in order to create something that no team in Germany has ever managed,” said Guardiola.
Bayern’s head coach made five changes from the side which beat Benfica in Munich last Tuesday, but Thomas Mueller came on with only 25 minutes gone to replace Arturo Vidal.
The Chilean picked up a rash yellow card for a foul on Didavi and came off as Guardiola looked to boost his midfield.
With second-placed Borussia Dortmund at arch-rivals Schalke on Sunday in the Ruhr Valley derby, Bayern took their chance to go eight points clear.
But having won their preceding three games by 1-0 margins, this was another labored display from the Bavarians at Stuttgart’s Mercedes Benz Arena.
“We had a lot of problems, we attacked well, but we were a bit too lazy and gave away free-kicks and corners,” added Guardiola.
“We made life complicated for ourselves, but after taking the lead we improved, especially in the second half, attacking better and the strikers moved more.”
Bayern took the lead when Franck Ribery’s cross clipped Niedermeier’s boot on the way into the Stuttgart net on 31 minutes and the visitors extended their lead when Alaba fired inside the near post on 52 minutes.
Mid-table Stuttgart got back in the game when attacking midfielder Didavi, who will play for Wolfsburg next season, managed to lob Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
The goal came despite Didavi being flat on the turf, when the ball fell into his path after a mistimed clearance by Munich striker Robert Lewandowski.
In the final ten minutes, Bayern’s Thiago hit the crossbar before Costa smashed in their third goal from the edge of the area.
Ten-man Wolfsburg later warmed up for their Champions League quarter-final, second-leg, clash at Real Madrid on Tuesday with a 1-1 draw at home to Mainz.
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Andre Schuerrle’s second-half goal was cancelled out by an equalizer from Mainz’s Spanish midfielder Jairo.
Wolfsburg had defender Dante sent off in the 91st minute for a second yellow card.
Borussia Moenchengladbach stay fourth despite their 1-0 defeat at Ingolstadt.
At the bottom, Hoffenheim, coached by Julian Nagelsmann, 28, the youngest ever coach in Germany’s top flight, are now three points clear of the relegation places after their 2-0 win at second from bottom Eintracht Frankfurt.
Midfielder Nadiem Amiri and forward Mark Uth scored their second-half goals.
Under Nagelsmann, Hoffenheim have taken 17 points in their last nine games to climb out of the bottom three to 14th.
Augsburg escaped the bottom three, and dropped opponents Werder Bremen into the relegation places, with a 2-1 win in north Germany as South Korea defender Hong Jeong-Ho scored their dramatic 87th-minute winner.
Mid-table Darmstadt enjoyed a 2-1 win at Hamburg while on Friday Hertha Berlin were held to a 2-2 draw at home to bottom side Hanover.
