Pep Guardiola admitted he was ‘honoured’ to coach Bayern Munich as they extended their record unbeaten Bundesliga run to 40 matches, while Borussia Dortmund’s injury woes worsened.
Bayern ran riot in a 7-0 romp at Werder Bremen on Saturday with France winger Franck Ribery creating two goals and scoring twice to boost his claim for the 2013 world footballer of the year award to be announced on January 13.
“It was an honour to coach them today, but I know Bremen can play much better than that,” said Guardiola as his team posted their biggest win since he took charge in June.
“I must say a big thank you to my team, they played very, very well.”
Having won 14 trophies in four years as Barcelona coach, Guardiola can win his second piece of silverware with Bayern later this month in the Club World Cup in Morocco having won the UEFA Super Cup in August.
Bayern have already reached the knock-out stages, but warmed up for Tuesday’s Champions League match at home to Manchester City, when they hope to extend their record European winning streak to 11 victories.
“This team has a great mentality, it makes it fun to play,” said Ribery, making his first start for a month after a rib injury.
“But we must keep playing at this level.”
Bayern, who last lost in the German league in October 2012, cut Bremen’s defence to tatters.
Belgium’s Daniel van Buyten, Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic plus Germany’s Thomas Mueller and Mario Goetze all got on the scoresheet after Bremen scored an own goal.
The victory was just short of the Bundesliga’s 57 year old record of 9-0 for an away win and was Werder’s heaviest home league defeat.
Bremen coach Robin Dutt kept the team on the pitch for a stern lecture as they dropped to 14th after just two wins in their last 10 games.
Second-placed Bayer Leverkusen stayed four points behind Bayern with a hard-fought 1-0 win at third-placed Borussia Dortmund, who now find themselves six points behind Leverusen and ten points behind Munich.
“I am especially pleased for the team,” said Leverkusen coach Sami Hyypia, whose side must beat Real Sociedad on Tuesday, and hope Shakhtar Donetsk lose at Manchester United, to reach the last 16 of the Champions League.
“In the first-half, we really showed what’s possible.
“After the break, we fought hard and we won, the victory was important because Dortmund were only three points behind us (before the match).”
South Korea striker Son Heung-Min hit the 18th-minute winner after Leverkusen’s attack pounced on a mistake by Dortmund defender Manuel Friedrich for Son to score his fifth goal in his last three games against Borussia.
“It’s never easy to win at Dortmund and we gave it everything,” said Son.
Both sides finished with 10 men as Leverkusen had Bosnia defender Emir Spahic sent off for striking Dortmund’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan while Borussia had Greece centre-back Sokratis dismissed late on for a second bookable foul.
Dortmund had both midfielders Sven Bender and Nuri Sahin taken off with ankle injuries and are doubtful ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League game at Marseille, which Dortmund must win to reach the knock-out stages.
“Miracles happen repeatedly, but it does not look good,” said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp.
“We didn’t play well, we didn’t find our way into the game, while Leverkusen did with their aggressiveness.
“We played with more passion in the second half, but we still weren’t good.
“Then we picked up more bloody stupid injuries, which is very annoying.”
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About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
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Under 19 World Cup
Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies
Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE
UAE fixtures
Saturday, January 18, v Canada
Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan
Saturday, January 25, v South Africa
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now