From the moment Thomas Muller swivelled on a sixpence, Bayern had the game in the bag.
Having laboured through the first half against a 10-man Besiktas on Tuesday night, Bayern finally struck their opener just before half-time before opening the flood gates after the break.
A 5-0 victory has all-but secured passage to the last-eight of the Champions League, and even if it did take a while to get going, this rout was proof of Bayern’s power.
Thomas Muller celebrates with Arturo Vidal after scoring against Besiktas for Bayern Munich
Muller’s first goal saw him swivel to provide the finish that sparked Bayern’s rout of Besiktas
It was all kick-started by a trademark Muller goal. A flurry of limbs, Muller doesn’t swivel as elegantly as Robert Lewandowski, say, but boy can he swivel effectively.
A sharp, inelegant turn and an ungainly prod was enough to put Bayern ahead. From that moment on, there was no going back for Besiktas.
Goals for Muller, after all, effectively guarantee victory for Bayern. Of the last 62 competitive games in which Muller has scored, Bayern have won 59 and drawn three.
Manchester City were the last team to concede to Muller and still beat Bayern Munich – that was back in December 2013. Four years and 81 goals later, Muller remains a gangly goal-getting guarantee for Bayern.
If there had been any doubt of his enduring quality, it has been blown away in recent weeks, as he has picked up five goals and three assists in this calendar year. As he showed this week, he also remains a man for the big stage.
‘Thomas knows exactly how special the Champions League is,’ manager Jupp Heynckes said after Tuesday’s game. ‘He is a player who is so important for our system, because he can create a goal from nothing.
The Germany forward is in form, with five goals and three assists in this calendar year
Manchester City were the last team to concede to Muller and still beat Bayern, back in 2013
‘He also has energy, pace and quick reactions which make him unique.’
Muller has always been unique, but it is only under Heynckes that he has rediscovered his old brilliance. Since picking up the pieces of Carlo Ancelotti’s tenure in the autumn Heynckes has worked wonders at Bayern and few players have been transformed as dramatically as Muller.
Right up until Ancelotti’s sacking in September, the 28-year-old forward was going through the most difficult period of his career. After a luckless Euro 2016, Muller failed to score a single Bundesliga goal in the first six months of Ancelotti’s reign.
The Italian’s rigid 4-3-3 system seemed to have no natural place for such a nebulous player.
Jupp Heynckes returned to Bayern this season and Muller’s form has since transformed
Muller also enjoyed Heynckes’ previous reign – they are pictured celebrating together in 2013
Unlike Pep Guardiola and Heynckes before him, Ancelotti couldn’t find a role for Muller, who ended the 2016-17 season with just nine goals in all competitions. With the arrival of James Rodriguez last summer, the utterly impossible – that Muller might part ways with Bayern Munich – seemed closer than it had ever seemed before.
In the end, of course, it was Ancelotti who had to go. Muller defines Bayern like no other active player, and Bayern need a coach who can get the best from him.
Enter Heynckes. For Bayern and for Muller the veteran coach, coaxed out of retirement, was exactly what the doctor ordered.
It was under Heynckes that Muller had, between 2011 and 2013, first made the transition from talented prodigy to established star. Now, here he was again, helping the forward to revive his career.
‘Thomas’s intellect, as well as everything he has already achieved, mean that he can be a leader,’ Heynckes immediately declared of his stand-in captain.
He then proceeded to shift Muller into a more central role, exploding the notion that he and Rodriguez couldn’t work together. Since then, the old Muller has been back. With eight goals and eight assists since Heynckes’ return, Muller is not only a worthy captain, he is once again an irrepressible force in attack.
Carlo Ancelotti’s rigid 4-3-3 system seemed to have no natural place for Muller
Heynckes has got Muller back to being the player he was in Bayern’s successes of 2013
‘Jupp Heynckes is still the same person and coach that he was back then,’ gushed Muller in December. ‘He puts everything into his work, every detail, and he’s a fantastic personality.’
Muller, too, is now the same player he was back in the heady, Treble-winning days of 2013. In fact, he is probably even better for three years under Guardiola.
The awkward brilliance, the sheer instinctive efficiency of his game is back. And, as Besiktas found out on Tuesday, when he scores, you may as well throw in the towel.