Bayern Munich clinical in 4-1 win over Qatar Stars

Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery (left) and Sebastian Rode (right) in action against Qatar Stars during an exhibition match yesterday.

By Joe Koraith/DohaThe 6,838 spectators present at the Abdullah bin Khalifa stadium went back a very happy lot. They witnessed a Bayern Munich team put on a great show in their 4-1 defeat of the Qatar Stars team.It was an exhibition match and you do have to factor in the fact that these Qatar Stars players had never played together before and therefore the lack of co-ordination was expected and evident. Bayern on the other hand were clinical, precise and fast. In one word, they were German! Bayern were completely dominant and the Qatar Stars team couldn’t match the pace that ze Germans were setting. Bayern started the game at a furious pace and scored as early as third minute. Muller got a through pass and as Qatar Stars goalkeeper Claude Amin charged out to block him, the World Cup star passed it to Sebastian Rode who calmly slotted it in to open the scoring.Just four minutes later, Qatar Stars got a great chance to draw level. Hamdi Harbaoui got a through ball and he set off on a run through the middle of the pitch but with Pepe Raina to beat, he sent it wide. Bayern were constantly on the attack with the game being mostly played in the Qatar Stars half. And their constant barrage of attacks was rewarded in the 14th minute. Franck Ribery crossed all the way from the left flank to the right flank, right into the path of Mitchell Weiser who ran towards the goal, skipped past one defender and then curled in a lovely ball into the far corner to double his team’s lead.  Just four minutes later Bayern’s star striker Robert Lewandowski headed just wide off the far post after getting a cross from Juan Bernat on the left flank. Though Bayern were mounting attack after attack, they only got their first corner in the 24th minute. Nothing came off it. But what happened two minutes later gave a lot of cheer to the local crowd. Against the run of play, Pablo Hernandez set off on a run down the right flank and then sent in a perfect pass to Harbaoui who calmly put it past Reina to make it 2-1.Things went off the boil for a bit after the goal and though Bayern were still on the attack they didn’t find the back of the net. Qatar Stars were beginning to see a bit more of the ball and got their first corner in the 41st minute but nothing came off it.Instead just two minutes later, Bayern extended their lead. Rode got a pass in the box and he crossed it into the centre for Ribery who had no trouble finding the back of the net.  That’s how the first half ended, with the score at 3-1 in favour of Bayern. In the second half, Qatar Stars made a host of changes with the entire substitute bench of seven players coming on. Bayern too made a few changes, the most notable being Xabi Alonso and Mario Goetze coming on and Bastian Schweinsteiger going off.  And despite the changes the tone of the match remained the same. Only five minutes into the second half, Lewandowski tried a clever back heel inside the box but Amin was able to save it. Would have been a great goal had he pulled it off.The home team got another one of their rare chances in the 59th minute when Tuncay Stanli got a great cross inside the opponent’s but despite being unmarked his header was way over the bar.In the 88th minute Bayern got the Qatar Stars keeper Khalifa Ndiaye to make a proper save. Goetze fired in a low shot into the near corner but Ndiaye was down in time to save it. Just a minute later, Marco Hingerl was inside the box, the ball having favourably dropped for him but he couldn’t connect and Ndiaye was able to collect it.But then just one minute later, Bayern got a corner and an unmarked Claudio Pizarro made it 4-1. That’s how the match ended. A perfect exhibition of great football which left the spectators wanting more.

(Below, left) Qatar Stars player Hamdi Harbaoui celebrates his goal. PICTURES: Mamdouh