franck ribéry scored twice – his first goals since august – as group e winners bayern rounded off the group stage on a high.
franck ribéry found the net twice as fc bayern münchen capped an impressive uefa champions league group e campaign with a 3-0 defeat of fc basel 1893.
basel needed to win in munich and for as roma to lose at cfr 1907 cluj in order to progress, while bayern had already clinched top spot in the section. there was no let-up from last season's runners-up, however, with two goals in three minutes providing the platform for their fifth win of the campaign. ribéry's 35th-minute opener was quickly bolstered by anatoliy tymoshchuk and the france winger added a second five minutes after the break to leave basel clinging to the consolation of a uefa europa league berth.
with their need greater, basel started with an enterprise almost as eye-catching as their fluorescent shirts. alexander frei drove fiercely across goal following a deft marco streller chest-down and xherdan shaqiri surged beyond the back four. thomas kraft, making his second successive start in the competition, parried superbly.
the early storm weathered, bayern countered. philipp lahm and thomas müller both flashed centres across the face of goal before a toni kroos corner somehow evaded three bayern players stationed within touching distance of franco costanzo's goal.
basel remained menacing on the counterattack, and kraft denied frei and streller as they bore down on goal before bayern wrested the game away from the visitors. diego contento robbed cabral before feeding ribéry to fire in the opener, and a mario gomez flick on a kroos corner sufficed for tymoshchuk to steer in the second from close range.
stunned by the double burst, basel floundered. bastian schweinsteiger may have added a third before the break had a deflection not diverted his measured effort into the grasp of a relieved costanzo. there was no escape shortly after the break, though, as thomas müller's fleet of foot and quick thinking gave ribéry ample time to side-foot beyond costanzo.
with his defence offering token resistance costanzo was given little respite, and only a brilliant reflex stop at point-blank range denied schweinsteiger, who could scarcely believe his luck. substitute federico almerares wasted an excellent opportunity to reduce basel's deficit, but only costanzo's alertness prevented mark van bommel and gomez compounding the away side's troubles. for bayern, it was a seventh successive home win in european competition.
