MUNICH: Whatever hope Salzburg had of overcoming Bayern Munich was extinguished by Robert Lewandowski scoring a hat trick in 11 minutes.
It was game over by the time Lewandowski’s third hit the net in the 23rd minute on Tuesday to make it the quickest treble ever seen at the start of a Champions League match.
A second leg that started at 1-1 was tilted 4-1 in Bayern’s favor by the striker’s scoring masterclass. An 8-2 aggregate win to reach the quarterfinals was completed by further goals from Serge Gnabry, a double from Thomas Müller, and Leroy Sané. At least Salzburg avoided complete humiliation of not scoring with Maurits Kjaergaard netting for the Austrian team in Bavaria.
“That was a statement win,” Bayern captain Manuel Neuer said. “I think we showed a different side of ourselves today and didn’t concede as many chances on the break. We were also more stable in defense, which obviously gives us hope that things can continue in that vein.”
Tuesday’s other round of 16 game was far tighter with Liverpool relying on its 2-0 victory at Inter Milan to advance after losing 1-0 at Anfield.
It was three weeks ago when Bayern was reliant on a late equalizer from Kingsley Coman to avoid losing the first leg.
After failing to score — or even hit the target in Salzburg — Lewandowski has now taken his season tally to 42 goals in all competitions.
It took only 12 minutes to score his first against Salzburg, from the penalty spot after being brought down by Maximilian Wober. The defender fouled him again and Lewandowski converted his penalty again in the 21st.
The third came from open play, running onto Müller’s pass and then knocking a shot past the advancing goalkeeper Philipp Köhn from the edge of the penalty area.
The previous quickest hat trick from the start of a Champions League match came in 24 minutes from Marco Simone for AC Milan against Rosenborg in 1996.
“Today it was an opponent on a different level,” Salzburg defender Rasmus Kristensen said. “We had some chances but if you don’t make them count, it is difficult. We gave everything but it wasn’t enough. It had nothing to do with attitude, focus or the match plan. They simply have been better in all aspects — that’s it.”
Coman seized the ball off Mohamed Camara to set up Gnabry in the 31st to shoot under Köhn.
Müller scored nine minutes into the second half before Kjaergaard struck a superb left-footed consolation for the knockout phase newcomer.
But Müller swept in his 52nd Champions League goal in the 83rd after exchanging passes with Lewandowski and Sané in the buildup.
The rout was completed with an assist from the striker who started it. Lewandowski back-heeled the ball for Sané to net the seventh in the 85th.
“Today we had the luck that was completely missing in Salzburg,” Müller said. “We could have gone 1-0 down after five minutes. You’re always a little dependent on situations like that, but overall we were better.”
Lewandowski’s 11-minute hat trick helps Bayern advance in champions league
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Lewandowski’s 11-minute hat trick helps Bayern advance in champions league
Alcaraz powers into Indian Wells quarter-finals
- Alcaraz will next face 2021 champion Cameron Norrie, who earlier beat Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-4 6-2
World number one Carlos Alcaraz continued his dominant run at Indian Wells, beating Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-1 7-6(2) on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals in the California desert.
The Spaniard relied on a near-flawless service game to seize control of the match, racing through the opening set in just 37 minutes after breaking Ruud’s serve three times.
Thirteenth-seeded Ruud raised his level in the second set and forced a tiebreak, hoping to push the match to a decider, but Alcaraz kept his foot on the gas to seal his 15th consecutive victory of the season to reach the quarter-finals for a fifth straight year.
“The conditions were difficult to be honest. Today the ball was tough to control but we both played great,” two-time champion Alcaraz said in his on-court interview.
“My first set was incredible I’m really happy of playing that kind of level, really happy to get through and hopefully I’ll play this level on the next round.”
Alcaraz will next face 2021 champion Cameron Norrie, who earlier beat Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-4 6-2, with the Spaniard looking to avenge a defeat to the Briton at last year’s Paris Masters.
SWIATEK, PEGULA THROUGH
World number two Iga Swiatek delivered a dominant 6-2 6-0 victory over Czech 13th seed Karolina Muchova, reeling off 10 consecutive games to secure her fifth win over the Czech, whom she also beat at the same stage of the tournament last year.
“I felt I was playing better and better, just great,” Swiatek said.
“I love playing here ... It’s a great place to play tennis, hopefully I can keep doing that until the end.”
Swiatek, chasing a third Indian Wells title, will face ninth seed Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals after the Ukrainian advanced when Katerina Siniakova retired injured.
American fifth seed Jessica Pegula overcame Belinda Bencic 6-3 7-6(5) to secure her first victory in five meetings between the pair.
Pegula, coming off a dramatic comeback win over Jelena Ostapenko, took control as she clinched the opening set — her first ever against the Swiss — before edging a tightly contested tiebreak to close out the match.
Russian 11th seed Daniil Medvedev beat Alex Michelsen 6-2 6-4 in a commanding performance, needing just one hour and 27 minutes to dismantle the American and maintain his strong form after winning last month’s Dubai Open.
