Michael Olise produced a standout performance as Bayern Munich swept aside Atalanta in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
With Harry Kane only fit enough for the bench after a recent calf injury, Bayern showed little sign of missing their leading scorer as they raced into control of the contest in Bergamo.
Olise was central to the early dominance, helping to create all three of Bayern’s opening goals inside the first 25 minutes.
His clever short corner picked out Serge Gnabry, whose delivery allowed Josip Stanisic to turn home from close range for the opener after 12 minutes.
The Frenchman then doubled Bayern’s lead himself with a superb curling finish before releasing Gnabry with a perfectly weighted pass, the winger lifting the ball over Marco Carnesecchi to make it three.
Bayern’s attacking display showed no sign of slowing after the break. Nicolas Jackson and Jamal Musiala both found the net, while Olise grabbed his second of the night as the visitors surged to six goals by the 67th minute.
Mario Pasalic pulled one back late on for Atalanta, but the damage had long been done as Bayern took a commanding advantage back to Munich for the second leg next Wednesday.
“Of course I’m satisfied,” manager Vincent Kompany said.
“This is the performance we wanted. We could have even scored one or two more goals. Our plan worked well today.
“We have a lot of talent and quality in this team. The boys love games like this.
“The intensity in our training is very high, and that helps us find good solutions in matches like this. So this performance doesn’t surprise me.”
On an eventful night in the Champions League, Liverpool and Tottenham both tasted defeat as Newcastle were denied a famous win over Barcelona by Lamine Yamal’s 96th-minute penalty.
