Munich (Germany), Feb 21 (IANS): Bayern Munich thrashed Besiktas 5-0 in the first leg of a Champions League knockout stage tie to all but assure themselves a berth in the quarterfinals.

The Turkish squad were, on Tuesday, better than the score would indicate, keeping the potent Bayern offense off the scoreboard for most of the first half despite going down to 10 men in the 16th with the expulsion of Domagoj Vida, reports Efe.

The defender got a straight red card for bringing down Robert Lewandowski in the area.

Besiktas goalkeeper Fabri stopped a thunderous Mats Hummel header from point-blank range at just past the half-hour mark.

Bayern's breakthrough came in the 43rd minute, when a cross found Thomas Müller in the six-yard box and he put it past Fabri.

With confidence boosted by the goal, the hosts took full command in the second half and doubled their lead in the 53rd minute as Kingsley Coman connected with a pass from Lewandowski.

Müller got his second of the night in the 66th minute to make it 3-0 with an assist from Joshua Kimmich and Lewandowski added a brace in the final 20 minutes to the delight of most of the 70,000 people packed into Munich's Allianz Arena.