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Thomas Muller and Thiago Alcantara both scored twice as Bayern Munich routed Werder Bremen 5-0 to open an eight-point lead in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Thiago opened the scoring after nine minutes with Muller adding a second after half an hour.
Muller scored again midway through the second half before Robert Lewandowski got in on the act with a late fourth and Thiago finished Bremen off with a fifth.
Bayern's lead could be cut to five points again when Borussia Dortmund host Mainz on Sunday, but the win will have boosted their confidence ahead of a decisive midweek Champions League last-16 clash with Italian champions Juventus.
Borussia Monchengladbach defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 as former Croatia coach Niko Kovac's tenure got off to a bad start.
Kovac, appointed successor to the sacked Armin Veh on Tuesday, could only watch as goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky endured a difficult afternoon.
Lars Stindl opened the scoring in the 36th minute, Raffael made it 2-0 in the 53rd and Mahmoud Dahoud wrapped up the win in the 79th.
Hoffenheim dented Wolfsburg's hopes of Champions League qualification and boosted their own survival chances with a 1-0 win at the Rhein-Neckar Arena.
Andrej Kramaric scored the only goal of the game in the third minute after fooling defender Robin Knoche.
The results mean Frankfurt remain in the relegation playoff spot, level on 24 points with Hoffenheim.
Ingolstadt and Stuttgart drew 3-3 to maintain their positions in mid-table.
Lukas Rupp and Daniel Didavi, from the penalty spot, scored in the final 11 minutes to give Stuttgart a share of the spoils.
Darmstadt squandered a two-goal lead to be pegged back for a 2-2 draw by fellow strugglers Augsburg at the Bollenfalltor.
Alfred Finnbogason's 90th-minute penalty rescued Augsburg.
Hannover were pushed closer to relegation as they were beaten 2-0 at home by Cologne.
Cologne took the lead with their first shot of the game two minutes before half-time, with Marcel Risse squaring for the unmarked Leonardo Bittencourt, and the former Hannover midfielder could not miss from close range.
Bittencourt made it two on the hour mark, threading his shot through the legs of Salif Sane to beat Ron-Robert Zieler inside his near post.