By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Bayern Munich began their Bundesliga campaign in emphatic fashion on Friday, dismantling Stuttgart 5-1 in a dominant display that underlined their attacking strength.
Bayern took control early at the Allianz Arena and opened the scoring in the 21st minute, with defender Dayot Upamecano rising to meet Joshua Kimmich’s corner and heading the ball into the bottom corner.
Stuttgart responded strongly after the break and levelled the contest in the 52nd minute. Josha Vagnoman reacted quickest to a rebound on the edge of the box before firing a powerful effort into the top corner to make it 1-1.
The equaliser, however, only appeared to provoke Bayern into another gear.
Two minutes later, Michael Olise restored the hosts’ advantage after being teed up by Kimmich inside the penalty area. Olise calmly rolled his finish into the bottom-left corner to put Bayern back in front at 2-1.
Bayern then extended their lead in the 57th minute, when Stuttgart defender Josha Vagnoman inadvertently turned the ball into his own net while attempting to intercept a dangerous pass.
Olise thought he had added another shortly afterwards, striking from inside the box in the 63rd minute, but the goal was subsequently ruled out following a VAR review for offside.
Bayern nevertheless continued to overwhelm their visitors.
Aleksandar Pavlovic made it 4-1 in the 82nd minute, finishing from close range after Ismael Saibari created the opportunity.
Stuttgart’s misery was completed deep into stoppage time when Luis Diaz capitalised on poor defending, going one-on-one with the goalkeeper before calmly slotting home Bayern’s fifth goal in the 92nd minute.
The result gave Bayern a commanding start to the new Bundesliga season, while Stuttgart were left to reflect on a second-half collapse after briefly drawing level.
