“We had to be patient on the one hand today, but on the other we needed to attack aggressively too and try to find the gaps”. We just let Mario play football.

Gotze has been linked with Juventus in recent days, as well as more spuriously with Manchester United and even Arsenal. It will be better if we do not talk about it constantly.

As combative as a pundit as he was as a player, it is little surprise to see Lothar Matthaus attempting to stir the pot at his former club once again.

That meant valuable game time for some of Bayern’s squad players, but it was Robben who impressed early on with piercing runs behind the Dresden defense.

In a chef d’oeuvre of speed, clever movement and slick combination play, the Dortmunder completely dominated from start to finish and when a team as well-structured and tactically-aware as Lucien Favre’s Gladbach is sunk without trace, you can only applaud the architect of the mismatch. “And things simply don’t work out then”.

The 23-year-old German worldwide, who netted the victor in the 2014 World Cup final, has been impressive when called upon by Pep Guardiola, but was tellingly dropped from Bayern Munich’s starting eleven for crucial Champions League clashes with Barcelona last season.

Matthaus, who spent 12 years at the club as a player in two trophy-laden spells, believes Mourinho is the superior coach to Guardiola in many respects – citing the Chelsea boss’s man-management skills as one area in which he excels.

A successful performance in Ukraine, earned the winger his move to Bayern Munich and may prove key as the Germans look to challenge in Europe this season.