Bayern Munich 5-0 Besiktas: 5 talking points

Bayern Munich made a giant step towards the quarter-finals of this season's UEFA Champions League, having swept aside Besiktas at the Allianz Arena.

Domagoj Vida's sending off after just 16 minutes proved to be decisive during the first leg, as Bayern were ruthless in attack from then on and had the numerical advantage to make things increasingly tough for their Turkish visitors.

Despite this, it was not until the 43rd minute that they took the lead, from which the floodgates then opened. Thomas Muller broke the deadlock and Kingsley Coman made it 2-0 shortly after the interval.

Muller would then grab his brace, before Lewandowski would round off the scoring with a brace of his own - both within the final 11 minutes of the match - destroying any chance of an unlikely Besiktas comeback during the second leg in a fortnight's time.

Here, we take a look at the talking points from this first leg clash:

5) Muller continues to thrive under Heynckes

Muller and Heynckes have always had a seemingly strong relationship

Whilst playing under Carlo Ancelotti this season, Muller had just one goal and two assists to his name. In addition to that, last season Muller only scored five all year, an underwhelming amount considering his tally across the previous three seasons in the league were 20 and 13 twice.

In those years, he found it easy to play in Jupp Heynckes and Pep Guardiola's tactical setup. He was either being deployed as Bayern's centre forward, or as the number ten and was showing his ability to create chances and equally score them too.

With Ancelotti at the helm, he found it a more difficult task to nail down a regular place in the starting eleven and his form suffered as a result. Unsurprisingly, after the Italian was sacked and previous manager Jupp Heynckes returned to manage the club for his fourth spell, Muller re-found his form.

Since his arrival, Muller has netted eight and assisted six more across all competitions - with some of those being substitute appearances too. He has become rejuvenated under his old boss because he's a manager who plays to the strengths of him and the team as a collective unit.

At 28, Muller still has plenty of years ahead of him and it's refreshing to see he's performing again while playing regularly in an ever-improving Bayern side.

4) Vida may have seen red, but is Hutchinson to blame?

Vida, who could have no complaints in truth, was dismissed early in the first-half

Vida's tackle on Lewandowski was unquestionably a red card. The Polish forward was past the centre-back and if not for the tackle, would've been one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

As he was ultimately Besiktas' last man and denied him a goalscoring opportunity just outside the area, a red card was justified on this occasion.

However, it's unfair to place all the blame on the 28-year-old. The major talking point from a Besiktas perspective, of course, would be regarding Vida's dismissal and how the team were forced to play 75 minutes with a numerical disadvantage against one of Europe's best sides.

However, he was left in that precaurious situation by midfielder Atiba Hutchinson. His weak backpass towards Vida allowed Lewandowski to capitalise before taking the ball around the defender. From then on, it was either Vida allowed him to score or take him down and pray for a light punishment - whether that be a booking or stern warning from the officials.

Unfortunately for him, the referee would not let him off lightly. Vida may have committed the challenge but had it not been for a terrible pass by Hutchinson, he wouldn't have needed to make the tackle and the first leg could have been completely different as a result.

3) There is zero hope of a Besiktas comeback

The impossible job: Besiktas have to make history and keep a clean sheet to stand any chance of progression

No team has ever come back from a 5-0 deficit after the first leg of a Champions League knockout tie. To recover from this is not only improbable, it's practically impossible.

Arsenal almost managed to turn around a 4-0 deficit when they faced AC Milan at the Emirates during the 2011/12 campaign, but they would only win 3-0 and came up a goal short. Even still, the two ties are not really comparable - the current Bayern crop is twice as good across all areas of the pitch as that Milan side, while Besiktas are simply not good enough to challenge an unpredictable Arsenal, even now.

If it was not for the dismissal yesterday evening, they may have perhaps caused an upset against the Bundesliga giants - or at least netted an away goal. Conceding five and scoring no away goals though, will leave them having to play for pride rather than any real competition during their home leg in two weeks' time.

Even without an away goal in Turkey, Bayern are not going to concede five goals. The last time they did, was six years ago. Good luck Besiktas, but it just isn't going to happen.

2) Could Bayern be genuine Champions League contenders?

On a roll, can they go all the way? Bayern players celebrate after they thumped Besiktas for five

They only faced 10 men for the majority of yesterday's game, but Bayern truly were ruthless. Persistent in their attempts to break their visitors down prior to Muller's opener, they continued to hurry and pressure Besiktas' backline right until the final whistle.

Barcelona are likely to go through after a 1-1 away draw against Chelsea, but they were rather unconvincing with their performance in west London yesterday. Real Madrid certainly aren't as good as they have been over the last two years, and the English sides - despite their undeniable quality - do not have as much experience in the latter rounds of the knockout stages.

Bayern meanwhile, are full of experienced Champions League winners. Their players know how to win the competition and find themselves in fantastic form too. This most recent victory is their 14th consecutive one across all competitions, equalling their longest ever run set in 1980.

They're arguably better than ever both in attack and defensively, suggesting there is no reason why they cannot go on to lift this trophy for the first time since 2013 - when Heynckes was previously manager too.

With the 72-year-old only managing the club on a temporary basis until the end of the current campaign, it could be the perfect send-off for a German legend in what is almost certainly to be his final stint with the club.

1) Lewandowski continues his devastating form

Goal machine: Lewandowski netted a brace as Bayern cruised to a comfortable victory

It looked for a minute as though Lewandowski would not get on the scoresheet here. A wonderful free-kick of his even struck the post prior to Coman doubling Bayern's lead, making it seem as though it just wasn't to be his day. However, he made sure that was not the case.

With 11 minutes remaining he scored his first, following up a Mats Hummels strike parried away by goalkeeper Fabricio - before securing his brace from close-range after Muller teed him up in the area.

They may not have been spectacular goals, but he has shown his capability to score any type of goal in recent seasons. His head, left, right, on the volley, from various distances - he has everything.

His brace here mean that he now has eight goals in his last seven matches across all competitions, which is a frightening goalscoring record and one likely to improve on in the coming weeks.

If Bayern are to lift this trophy again in June, it'll be mainly down to their leading goalscorer over the past two seasons - who will have a huge part to play. However, given the opportunities in important moments, he will take them. Bayern know they can rely on their Polish number nine.