Celebrating his 1,000th game as a manager, Carlo Ancelotti hailed Bayern Munich's "perfect game" with Thomas Muller "the best player on the pitch" as the German champions devoured hapless Hamburg 8-0 on Saturday.
Arturo Vidal opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a fierce drive, before Robert Lewandowski fired his second Bundesliga hat trick of the season to put Bayern into an unassailable lead.
The goal-fest continued in the second half as David Alaba added a fifth and substitute Kingsley Coman two more, before Arjen Robben netted the final goal with three minutes remaining.
"It was a perfect game," Ancelotti said at his postmatch news conference after reaching his 1,000-game milestone. "We played really well and had a great attitude. I asked the players for my celebration to play a good game but I didn't expect to play so well.
"They played really well and I'm really happy. But I would like the same attitude and spirit for the next game."
Thomas Muller laid on two of Bayern's eight goals and was also fouled in the box for a penalty which Lewandowski converted. And Ancelotti hailed the German international's performance in tandem with Thiago -- after preferring the Spanish midfielder ahead of him in key games against RB Leipzig and Arsenal this season.
"It's an option of course for us," Ancelotti added. "Muller was the best player on the pitch. He moved really well. It's true that he didn't score but he was involved in many offensive situations.
"I really liked his performance -- as I did all the players -- but Muller stood out offensively."
CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge presented the Italian maestro with a giant pretzel before the game to commemorate Ancelotti's 1,000th game, and Ancelotti recalled previous standout victories.
"I remember winning 8-0 with Chelsea and 9-1 with Real Madrid, but this performance was really good and I will have good memories from this game," he said.
Bayern's resounding win maintained the defending champions' five-point advantage over nearest challengers Leipzig with 12 Bundesliga games remaining.