Bayern and Leverkusen supreme

Bayern looked sure to score from open play, having thrown everything but the kitchen sink at their Czech opponents in the first 20 minutes or so.

However, the Bavarians opened the scoring with a penalty - after a foul on Arjen Robben - taken by Franck Ribery; the Frenchman placed his kick low to the right on 25 minutes, eluding the diving Viktoria Plzen keeper Matus Kozacik.

Kozacik was kept pretty busy after that, too - yet pulled off some excellent saves. Another breakthrough for the Bavarians seemed inevitable, the home side doubled their lead in the 37th minute, thanks to David Alaba. He controlled a header down from Mario Mandzukic and cut square inside past a defender, somehow finding the space to finish cleanly in the bottom left.

There were some chances for Plzen, but overall - Bayern having three-quarters of the possession so far - they would have been grateful to go in just two goals down at the break.

Robben and Mandzukic exchanged passes in the area, then passed it out to Ribery, who dropped his shoulder, finding the space to arc the ball past the keeper.

It evidently seemed like a good time for Bayern boss Pep Guardiola to give Mario Götze a run out on 63 minutes. It proved a good decision, as - a minute later - the former Dortmund man found Bastian Schweinsteiger who spun and calmly put the side's fourth away. Götze went on to find his name on the score sheet, arriving at the far post to thump in a cross from Robben, a minute into stoppage time.

"We played well," said Guardiola. "I am satisfied." However, he added: "We can still play better."

Götze said that things had, for the most part, gone well. "We had a lot of chances, a lot of corners, and when you look at the statistics, they look good," he said.

Bayern stand at the top of Group D, three points above Manchester City, who won 2-1 away to CSKA Moscow.

Little threat from visitors

In Leverkusen, the Germans were also clearly dominant, with the lion's share of possession. It took until the 22nd minute for them to really exploit that though, with Stefan Kiessling heading comfortably past Andriy Pyatov, on the end of a curling cross from Giulio Donati.

Apart from a convincing counter in the 45th minute, Alex Teixeira finding the side netting, the visitors looked comparatively toothless throughout the first half. At least they had kept the score line respectable though - until then.

Not soon after the break, Leverkusen doubled their lead through a penalty by Simon Rolfes following a foul on Kiessling.

With the flood gates open, that gap was extended on 57 minutes when Son Heung-Min found the Bundesliga’s top scorer this season, Sidney Sam - who slotted the ball into the corner of the net for a third.

There was a little more in the way of attack from Donetsk as the second half wore on, with Brazilian substitute Bernard coming close on 67 minutes, but it was too little and too late.

Leverkusen, clearly heading for a win now, only gained confidence and made it four after 72 minutes thanks, again, to Kiessling. The player capped a shining performance, walking the ball into the net after a harmless cross from Emre Can was spilt by Pyatov.

Leverkusencoach Sami Hyypia said the win had been earned. "Our team played very well offensively," he said. "We let the ball do the work."

Leverkusen are now second Group A, just a point behind Manchester United, who beat bottom-placed Real Sociedad 1-0 on the night.