FC Bayern getting better from week to week

Home fans had long dispersed, and the gleeful cries of “Schalke, null vier”, or “Schalke, zero-four," were coming from the away section, as the travelling support celebrated Bayern's crushing 4-0 victory over the Royal Blues. The impressive win meant FCB neatly marked the start of the 180th Oktoberfest by pulling level with leaders Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga table.

“That was our best game in the Bundesliga so far," enthused coach Pep Guardiola afterwards, saying he was “pleased and proud" with his players following a fifth win in six league fixtures. “We're improving from match to match, we're getting better from week to week," agreed Jerome Boateng after Munich's biggest ever win in Gelsenkirchen.

Reaction to Schalke v Bayern

Pep Guardiola: “That was our best Bundesliga performance of the season so far. We totally dominated one of the strongest teams in Germany. We did very well. I’m satisfied and proud of this performance and my players.”

Bastian Schweinsteiger: “We took it very seriously from the start, our mentality was right. We were determined to take all three points. It’s not easy to come here and win, so we’re doubly delighted about doing just that. We were definitely very good at times.”

Jérôme Boateng: “We’re improving with every game. We dominated possession and our passing was excellent.”

Kevin-Prince Boateng (Schalke): “It’s hard to beat a team as good as Bayern. We made too many errors, and Bayern will always exploit that. Their passing and positional play is outstanding. It’s hard to get into the game. We had our chances, but you never win if you don’t take your chances.”

Neuer clean sheet record

Last weekend, Manuel Neuer became the youngest goalkeeper ever to keep the  100 Bundesliga clean sheets.

The best legendary goalkeeper in the making now.

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Impressive win with Lederhosen-look

On the first day of the Oktoberfest, Bayern wore their Lederhosen-look away strip on the road for the first time and celebrated a special day in the Bavarian calendar with a crushing Bundesliga victory away to Schalke, as the impressive treble winners extended their unbeaten league run to 31 games and went joint top of the standings with a fifth win in six matches.

The 61,973 capacity crowd at Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen saw a breathless opening with chances at both ends, before the Reds hit the Royal Blues with a double whammy midway through the first half, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Mandzukic heading the visitors into the driving seat. FCB comfortably dominated their stunned opponents after that and could have increased the lead before and after half-time, but the visitors were content to keep the men in blue chasing shadows for long spells and waited until 15 minutes from time before Franck Ribery wrapped up the points once and for all, sub Claudio Pizarro adding the fourth with five minutes to play.

The imposing victory takes FCB joint top of the standings on 16 points from six matches, level on points with Dortmund after BVB’s 1-1 draw away to Nürnberg earlier in the day, and one ahead of third-placed Bayer Leverkusen. Pep Guardiola’s side return to action on Wednesday when they entertain Hannover, Bundesliga opponents last weekend, in the DFB Cup second round.

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Battle of the Brothers Boateng

Many Boateng family members will be watching the game live in the stadium. There have only been two previous matches in which the brothers went head-to-head: For twelve minutes in the Bundesliga, with Jérôme for Hamburg and Kevin-Prince for Dortmund in April 2009, and once over the full 90 minutes at the 2010 World Cup, in a group stage meeting between Germany and Ghana. Jérôme won the latter. “I’m ahead In competitive matches,” Jérôme said.

After more than three years, the two now finally meet again on the sacred turf. The verbals between the two, who are in contact “nearly every day” according to Jérôme, have increased in intensity recently. Kevin-Prince quipped that his brother lacks attacking quality – but Jérôme fired back that his brother’s “left foot is a bit weak.” The kind of banter presumably last heard on the football pitch next to the gently flowing river Panke.

FCB on a roll against Schalke

Bayern travel to Schalke with the proud boast of having scored in all of their last 42 Bundesliga matches, setting a new record. The last time Munich completed a Bundesliga match without scoring was a goalless stalemate against Mainz in April 2012. However, Schalke are no slouches either in this regard: the Royal Blues have scored at least once in their last 33 Bundesliga home fixtures, with just one exception - against Bayern in September 2012.

Bayern have only lost one of their last eight league matches against Schalke (five wins and two draws). The Bavarians have nosed ahead in their away record against the Royal Blues and now hold a favourable position (13 wins, 18 draws, 12 defeats). However, the overall record against Schalke is heavily in the Reds’ favour: of the 86 matches played, Bayern have won 43, with Schalke only winning 18. The points have been shared 25 times.

Neuer: We'll do all we can to win

“I think it will be a challenge to beat Schalke, especially considering they’re on a roll,” said Neuer. He has played four times against the Ruhr Valley team since his transfer to Munich in 2011, and all of the games went in Bayern’s favour, with Neuer conceding not a single goal. In total the Bavarians have won their last five matches against Schalke, scoring 14 goals and conceding only one.

However, none of this matters on Saturday. “We know Schalke are performing very well at the moment,” explained the Bayern keeper, calling on his team-mates to do “everything we can to win it,” following two impressive victories at Veltins Arena in the past two seasons. However, if Bayern were to think it will be a “simple kick-about, we’ll be shown how wrong we are,” the Germany international cautioned.

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