Bayern Munich 5-3 Augsburg: Pavard at the double as champions run riot

Benjamin Pavard helped himself to a first-half double and Joao Cancelo scored his first Bayern Munich goal as the Bundesliga leaders beat Augsburg 5-3 in a thriller.

Mergim Berisha's early goal stirred Bayern into life at the Allianz Arena, where they were out of sight at half-time.

Cancelo equalised before Pavard struck twice in his 150th competitive game for the club and Leroy Sane made it 4-1 at the interval.

Berisha pulled one back with a penalty, but Alphonso Davies restored Bayern's three-goal advantage.

Irvin Cardona then struck in stoppage time for Augsburg, but Bayern had already done enough to move three points clear of Borussia Dortmund ahead of their rivals' Revierderby against Schalke later on Saturday.

Berisha stunned the champions by opening the scoring in the second minute, taking one touch to turn Cancelo too easily before firing home from inside the box.

Cancelo made amends by rifling into the far corner of the net with his right foot after turning Mads Pedersen inside out and Pavard put Bayern in front with a close-range volley four minutes later after Sadio Mane, making his first start since November, set him up with an overhead kick.

Pavard struck again with a spectacular finish, propelling himself up with his left foot and firing in with his right 10 minutes before the break.

Sane got in on the act on the stroke of half-time by heading into an empty net after Mane's cross had struck Maximilian Bauer and goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz before looping into his path.

Berisha reduced the deficit from the spot after Matthijs de Ligt was adjudged to have upended Cardona on the hour-mark.

Ruthless Bayern remained in command, though, and Davies finished clinically at the back post after Cancelo picked him out with a brilliant cross.

Cardona capitalised on slack Bayern defending to turn in a Ruben Vargas cross right at the end, but a thrilling contest had long since been settled.

What does it mean? Five-star Bayern flex their muscles

Augsburg beat Bayern 1-0 in the reverse fixture in September and although they were rocked early on, Julian Nagelsmann's team showed their class to seal a resounding win.

After knocking Paris Saint-Germain out of the Champions League in midweek, Bayern put Augsburg to the sword.

Bayern can sit back and watch to see if Dortmund are able to respond in a week which saw their 10-match winning run come to a halt with a loss at Chelsea that eliminated them from the Champions League.

Pavard back with a bang following ban

France international Pavard missed the 2-0 second-leg win over PSG due to suspension after being sent off in the first leg.

He marked his return in style, producing two finishes that a striker would have been happy with on a landmark appearance.

Mane looks sharp from the start

While Mane was unable to find the back of the net in his first start since recovering from a knee operation, the forward produced a livewire display.

He showed his quality to set up Pavard's first goal and looked sharp as Bayern continue their quest for yet more trophies.   

What's next?

Bayern travel to Bayer Leverkusen next Sunday looking for a fifth win in a row, while Augsburg are at home to Schalke the day before.