Guardiola rapt about champ's dominating league effort

Pep Guardiola admitted he was 'honored' to coach Bayern Munich as it extended its record unbeaten Bundesliga run to 40 matches, while Borussia Dortmund's injury woes worsened.

Bayern ran riot in a 7-0 romp at Werder Bremen on Saturday with Franck Ribery scoring twice and setting up two other goals to boost his claim for the 2013 world footballer of the year award, to be announced on Jan 13.

"It was an honor to coach them today, but I know Bremen can play much better than that," said Guardiola as his team posted its biggest win since he took charge in June. "I must say a big thank you to my team, they played very, very well."

Having won 14 trophies in four years as Barcelona coach, Guardiola can win his second piece of silverware with Bayern later this month in the Club World Cup in Morocco, having won the UEFA Super Cup in August.

Bayern has already reached the knockout stages, but warmed up for Tuesday's Champions League match at home to Manchester City, when it hopes to extend its record European winning streak to 11 victories.

"This team has a great mentality; it makes it fun to play," said Ribery, making his first start for a month after a rib injury. "But we must keep playing at this level."

Bayern, which last lost in the German league in October 2012, cut Bremen's defense to tatters.

Belgium's Daniel van Buyten, Croatia's Mario Mandzukic plus Germany's Thomas Mueller and Mario Goetze all got on the scoresheet after Bremen scored an own goal.

The victory was just short of the Bundesliga's 57-year-old record of 9-0 for an away win and was Werder's heaviest home league defeat.

Bremen coach Robin Dutt kept the team on the pitch for a stern lecture as it dropped to 14th after just two wins in its past 10 games.

Second-place Bayer Leverkusen stayed four points behind Bayern with a hard-fought 1-0 win at third-placed Borussia Dortmund, which now finds itself six points behind Leverusen and 10 behind Munich.

(China Daily 12/09/2013 page23)