Bayern go goal crazy

Bayern Munich striker Claudio Pizarro (R) celebrates his goal with teammate Arjen Robben during their Champions League clash against Lille in Munich on Wednesday.Photo: AFP

Claudio Pizarro scored a 15-minute hattrick as Bayern Munich pulverised Lille 6-1 in their Champions League Group F match on Wednesday, eliminating the French side and taking a big step towards the round of 16.
The 34-year-old, in the starting lineup only because top scorer Mario Mandzukic was ill, notched the Champions League's third fastest hat-trick as Bayern recorded the biggest halftime lead in the competition's history.
Bastian Schweinsteiger and Arjen Robben scored from free kicks and Toni Kroos fired in from 16 metres in the second half as Bayern rode roughshod over Lille, who briefly cut the lead with a Salomon Kalou goal.
Bayern's win put them on nine points in the group alongside Valencia who beat BATE Borisov 4-2. BATE are on six with bottom-placed Lille having lost all four group matches.
"I had said before the game that we need to win this, draw in Valencia and win our last home game against BATE and that is the situation in the group," said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes.
"Obviously we had great plays in the first half. We also had two free kick goals which is something we trained but the opponent was not in top form tonight."
Bayern, who have now won 16 of their last 17 home games, shot out of the blocks with Schweinsteiger curling a free kick over the wall for the lead after five minutes and Thomas Mueller squandering two golden chances.
With Dutchman Robben back in the team for a European match after a one-month injury layoff, and Franck Ribery in sparkling form, the hosts, who are also leading the Bundesliga by seven points with nine wins out of 10 matches, were unstoppable.
Pizarro doubled their lead with a stunning low drive after a one-two with Ribery at the edge of the box leaving the Lille defence in tatters.
They added another with a heavily deflected free kick from Robben before Pizarro flicked in his second goal from close range from captain Philipp Lahm's well-timed cutback.