MUNICH -- Jupp Heynckes's fourth spell in charge of Bayern Munich got off to the perfect start as the German champions effortlessly beat Freiburg 5-0.
The three points were never in doubt once Bayern took the lead thorough a Julian Schuster own goal on eight minutes. Kingsley Coman doubled the lead with a looping header shortly before half-time, before midfielder Thiago added a third from the edge of the box on 63 minutes.
Robert Lewandowski latched onto Thomas Muller's pass to add a fourth, his ninth goal in eight Bundesliga games, with a quarter of an hour to play, and Joshua Kimmich applied the finishing touch to the scoreline with a classy backheel with the final touch of the game.
"Today it was extremely important we got off to a good start," Heynckes, who has won the opening game of each of his four respective tenures, told a postmatch news conference. "Then you have self-confidence and enjoy a new lease of life. It's vital to have a clean sheet and use our full potential up front too.
"We allowed Freiburg three chances in the first half, one of which Sven Ulreich saved brilliantly. That should not happen to us and we have to be more compact, although we did not allow any chances in the second half. Therefore, this is criticism at a very high level; we played some wonderful football at times.
"We can definitely build on this win but we shouldn't overstate this 5-0 win. We still have a lot of work to do, but obviously, we still have a very good team with lots of fantasy but it was especially important that the players cleared their heads. This result happened because of that and was the reason why the team played so attractively today."
The only negative aspect on the day was an injury to Javi Martinez, who started in defensive midfield, as he did so often under Heynckes in Bayern's Treble-winning side of 2012-13.
He landed heavily on his shoulder and had to be replaced with 20 minutes remaining. Martinez will have a scan on the injury but Heynckes confirmed he is a serious doubt for the Champions League game on Wednesday against Celtic.
"When Javi says he has to go off that is really alarming," the 72-year-old manager said. "He is not only a Basque; he is also a robust type of player and a tremendous fighter. He showed that again today."