BERLIN: Bayern Munich took out their Champions League frustrations on Mainz 05 as James Rodriguez claimed his first Bundesliga hat-trick on Sunday in a 6-0 romp to fire the Bavarians back to the top of the table.

After Wednesday’s Champions League exit, following a 3-1 home defeat by Liverpool in the last 16, Mainz bore the brunt of the backlash at Munich’s Allianz Arena.

“We showed the disappointment of the Liverpool defeat is behind us, it was important to react,” said Bayern coach Niko Kovac.

Robert Lewandowski, Rodriguez and Kingsley Coman scored in a one-sided first half, before Rodriguez completed his hat trick and Canadian teen Alphonso Davies grabbed his first goal for Bayern in the second.

We wanted to play a good game for sure and we asked a lot of ourselves after Wednesday,” Thomas Mueller said. “Today we dominated from the start.”

The thumping win saw Bayern reclaim top spot in the Bundesliga on goal difference from Borussia Dortmund, who briefly usurped them with a nervy 3-2 win at Hertha Berlin on Saturday, with eight games left.

Lewandowski scored with the outside of his boot in the third minute, Rodriguez made it 2-0 in the 33rd after Leon Goretzka laid the ball off with his chest, and Coman, who earlier hit the post, let fly from the outside of the area in the 39th.

Rodriguez grabbed another two goals within a four-minute spell early in the second half, before Davies, who came on with just over half an hour remaining, scored with a volley on the rebound after Mainz goalkeeper Florian Mueller denied Lewandowski.

Earlier, Martin Hinteregger’s first-half strike was enough for Eintracht Frankfurt to consolidate fifth place with a 1-0 win over last-placed Nuremberg. The visitors are now 20 games without a win.

Max Kruse opened and finished the scoring for Werder Bremen to beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 away and boost their European qualification hopes. The result lifts Bremen to eighth and leaves Leverkusen sixth, four points behind Frankfurt.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2019