Luis Díaz scored a hat-trick as Bayern Munich ended a mini crisis in emphatic fashion with a 6-1 demolition of RB Leipzig on Saturday which took them to the top of the Bundesliga for at least a day as Borussia Dortmund were held 0-0 at Union Berlin.
Aleksandar Pavlović, Harry Kane and Michael Olise were also on target as the champions rebounded strongly from a 2-2 draw in Augsburg and a mid-week 3-3 at Viking Stavanger in the Champions League with an utterly dominant performance.
"It was impressive. You can't really blame Leipzig, we were just so good. It was a very good performance, something we need in the coming weeks. We showed what we are capable of," Bayern board member for sport Max Eberl told Sky TV.
Bayern moved into first place, ahead on goal difference of Borussia Dortmund. But last week's leaders Freiburg can reclaim the top on Sunday ahead of next week's home game against Bayern if they win at Bayer Leverkusen.
Unstoppable Bayern
Díaz wasted a big chance in the first minute before he opened the scoring in the 12th off an over the top ball from Joshua Kimmich.
Bayern were in full control as Díaz set up Pavlović to smash the second in the 26th and Olise netted into the bottom right corner after a one-two with Kane in the 34th.
Díaz had the first chance of the second half and this time he made no mistake when he curled into the far corner between two defenders for 4-0. Kane joined the scoring in the 53rd before Olise set up Díaz to complete his hat-trick into the right corner.
The only blemish was no clean sheet as Andrija Maksimović smashed a stoppage time goal into the roof of the net past Jonas Urbig, who was playing for the injured Manuel Neuer.
It could have been even worse for Leipzig, who just a week ago trounced Eintracht Frankfurt 6-0, had their goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt not made a number of big saves, including deflecting efforts from Olise against the post and crossbar, respectively.
Bayern boosted morale for next week's big Champions League home date with English champions Arsenal.
Leipzig sporting director Marcel Schäfer admitted to "total failure in all areas" from his team and added: You can lose in Munich but they were so dominant. That is not our ambition. You need a really good day to win in Munich and we had a really bad day."
Leipzig - under new coach Martin Demichelis who played at Bayern for many years at Bayern and then also formed Manchester City's central defence with now Bayern coach Vincent Kompany - are in midfield and have lost their first three games away from home for the first time in the Bundesliga.
Dortmund held
Dortmund meanwhile failed to win for a third time in a row after a draw with Werder Bremen and a Champions League defeat at Norway's Bodø/Glimt when they failed to break down Union in a physical affair.
Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel made a big save late in the first half against a dangerous free-kick from Kasterot Imeri. At the other end, Maximilian Beier fired wide after the break and Dortmund were sweating on Konstantinos Karetsas, who limped off with an ankle problem.
"We knew we would have to fight and we did that. But we are not satisfied with the one point. We controlled the game but didn't get enough chances out of it. We have to live with the point," Dortmund coach Niko Kovac.
Füllkrug keeps scoring
Germany striker Niclas Füllkrug continued his scoring spree with a brace in Werder Bremen's 2-2 draw from two goals down against Paderborn.
Paderborn seemed out to spoil Bremen's 100-year stadium anniversary celebrations when Steffen Tigges set up Stefano Merino for an 18th minute opener and then doubled the lead himself 12 minutes later.
But Bremen had already rallied from two down against Augsburg and Dortmund and they did it again, when Füllkrug hit the bottom left corner off Eren Dinkçi in the 59th and again with a penalty six minutes later.
Füllkrug has rediscovered his form since returning to Bremen on loan from West Ham United. He has scored in the last five league matches for a league-leading season tally of six.
Other games
Substitute Miro Muheim scored a second late winner in as many games when he drilled home in the 88th for a 1-0 success over VfB Stuttgart and a third win in a row. Muheim had netted a stoppage time 3-2 winner in Hoffenheim last week.
Schalke are yet to score a goal at home this season as they lost 1-0 at Mainz from Phillip Tietz.
Elversberg downed Augsburg 4-3 in a turbulent match they led 3-0 after 28 minutes from Lukas Petkov, Lasse Günther and Maximilian Rohr.
Fabian Rieder and Michael Gregoritsch converted penalties for the visitors, Frederik Schmahl made it 4-2 in the 88th but Augsburg hit back again in the 90th from Mert Kömür and Noel Futkeu hit a late penalty for the hosts against the bar.
Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Cologne 1-0 on Friday. The other Sunday game is between bottom sides Borussia Mönchengladbach and Hoffenheim.
