Harry Kane said Bayern Munich delivered a necessary statement by beating RB Leipzig 6-1 after a below-par run of results.
The England captain scored once and created two goals on Saturday as Bayern produced a dominant display to strengthen their position as Bundesliga champions.
Bayern have now scored 18 goals in their first three home matches of the season, a Bundesliga record. They surpassed their previous best of 17, set during the 2020-21 campaign.
Their attacking performance was reflected in a total of 17 shots on target, Bayern’s highest tally in a Bundesliga match since August 2022, when they recorded 20 against Borussia Monchengladbach.
The result followed unconvincing draws with Augsburg and Viking, and Kane said Bayern had needed to respond with greater authority.
“After the last two results, I think it was important to make a statement, and we did that from the first minute,” said Kane, who scored his 102nd goal in his 100th Bundesliga appearance.
That is more goals than any other player has scored in their first 100 games in the competition.
“I think we had enough chances in the last two games to score goals and win, but we didn’t get the results we wanted. There was more talk than usual, so it was important to keep cool heads and avoid mistakes.
“And we did that from start to finish, from front to back. It was excellent. When you score six goals against an opponent like that, you can be really proud.”
Luis Diaz scored his second Bundesliga hat-trick, following his treble in a 5-1 victory over Hoffenheim in February. He was directly involved in four goals in a Bundesliga match for the first time, scoring three and providing one assist.
Bayern sporting director Max Eberl praised the intensity of the performance and said Leipzig had been forced into errors by the pressure applied by the hosts.
“That was really impressive. We were focused and all over them from the start,” said Eberl.
“We’d caused ourselves issues at times in the last two games. We really wanted to avoid that today. We put Leipzig under so much pressure that they were forced into mistakes.
“At times you can’t blame the opposition because we were just so good. The size of the score is also deserved. It was a very good performance.
“We need this stability in the weeks ahead. We had almost 50 shots in the last two games, but there were also moments where we weren’t alert enough. We showed what we can do. When the guys see that what we plan to do works, then you also see that joy on the pitch.”
Bayern’s next fixture is a Champions League meeting with Arsenal.
