Thanks to a Thomas Müller double and Robert Lewandowski's 22nd goal of the Bundesliga season, Bayern Munich ran out 3-1 winners over Darmstadt.

The two teams made plenty of changes coming into the game. Bayern brought in Kingsley Coman, Serdar Tasci and Rafinha for Thiago, Juan Bernat and Philipp Lahm, with the Champions League clash against Juventus beginning to play on their minds.

As for Dirk Schuster, he was forced into five changes due to suspension; Aytac Sulu, Marcel Heller, Peter Niemeyer, Jerome Gondorf and Jan Rosenthal were all unvailable, so György Garics, Junior Diaz, Sandro Sirigu, Fabian Holland, Mario Vrancic started in their place.

Darmstadt shock the Allianz Arena

Unsurprisingly, given the amount of first-team players missing from the Darmstadt line-up, they found it hard going. Arjen Robben fired over from Arturo Vidal's corner before the Chilean had his shot from the edge of the box rattle the bar, after a deflection from Garics. Robben and Robert Lewandowski were denied by Christian Mathenia, too.

Almost immediately after that chance, Darmstadt's three-year fairytale seemed to go beyond anything else imaginable. After Junior Diaz's cross was missed by Sandro Wagner, Sirigu regrouped and whipped another ball in towards the former Bayern striker. He beat Tasci to the ball, and the Lilies led in Munich.

Garics' luck was in on Saturday, as he managed to deflect Douglas Costa's effort onto the crossbar. Then, after some poor goalkeeping by Mathenia, Robben failed to find the target once more. Despite being under pressure for almost the entire half, Schuster's side had the lead at the break.

Schuster shows his frustration towards the end. | Image source: kicker - picture alliance
Schuster shows his frustration towards the end. | Image source: kicker - picture alliance

Bayern turn on the style in the second half

After half-time, things changed. Thomas Müller broke Darmstadt's resistance just a few minutes following the restart, as he brought down Rafinha's pass expertly with his chest and fired into the bottom right corner past the powerless Mathenia.

For a while, the visitors had frustrated their hosts and they couldn't break down the organised Darmstadt back-line. Lewandowski thought he had earned Bayern the three points, but he was flagged for offside. The champions didn't have to wait long, however, as some more impressive chest control and an acrobatic bicycle kick finish gave Müller has second in stunning fashion.

Lewandowski did get a goal of his own in the second period, finishing off a Franck Ribéry cross from close range on the winger's return to action. Darmstadt remain in mid-table, while Pep Guardiola side extended their lead to 11 points.

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About the author
Jonathan Walsh
SoccerSight IFA commentator. VAVEL deputy editor-in-chief/VAVEL Bundesliga editor-in-chief and writer. Email: [email protected]