Robert Lewandowski scores hat trick as Bayern rout Bremen

Bayern Munich’s Arturo Vidal attempts an acrobatic kick as Ludovic Lamine Sane of Werder Bremen tries to catch up in their German league match at the Allianz Arena stadium in Munich, Germany, on Friday. Bayern won 6-0. (Photo: AP)

Robert Lewandowski claimed a hat-trick as defending champions Bayern Munich brushed Werder Bremen aside with a 6-0 win in Friday’s opening match of the new German league season.

Lewandowski, the Bundesliga’s top-scorer last season with 30 goals, could have finished with five as Bayern ran riot.

“I’m just happy I scored and that we got the win,” Lewandowski told broadcaster ARD and revealed he finished the game with a hole in his goal-scoring right boot.

After Xabi Alonso scored the first goal of the 2016/17 campaign at Munich’s Allianz Arena, Lewandowski netted either side of the break before captain Philipp Lahm added a fourth.

It was no more than shooting practice for Bayern by the time Franck Ribery fired home, with Lewandowski then converting a penalty to claim his third and Munich’s sixth.

Having also hammered Hamburg 5-0 in last season’s opening game, this was another emphatic win as Bayern look to win a fifth Bundesliga title in a row.

It finished 2-0 at the break, but it could have been at least double that as Lewandowski and then Thomas Mueller both hit the woodwork in the opening 45 minutes.

Bayern won last season’s German league title by 10 points, making history with a fourth straight Bundesliga title.

They picked up under new coach Carlo Ancelotti where they left off under Pep Guardiola, who left in May to coach Manchester City, with long periods of possession.

Bayern’s win came with Germany defenders Jerome Boateng and Holger Badstuber, plus Dutch winger Arjen Robben all recovering from injury. New signing Renato Sanches from Benfica started on the bench.