The Berliners, playing before a sold-out home crowd of more than 77,000 at the Olympic Stadium, were clearly outclassed by the Bavarian powerhouse, which is now looking to unseat Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga championship.

Bayern Munich has scored an impressive 20 goals in its last three games. The shutout against Berlin was preceded by a crushing 7-0 win against Basel in the Champions League last Tuesday and a 7-1 hammering against Hoffenheim.

Despite these numbers, the Bavarians remain in the number two spot in the Bundesliga behind rival Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund beat Bremen Saturday 1-0, with the goal scored by birthday boy Shinji Kagawa, who turned 23.

But the gap between the two top teams has closed over the last few weeks and there is now a five point difference between the two German powerhouses.

The Bavarians now appear so strong that journalists’ questions in television interviews following the match bordered on the absurd.

One reporter asked Dutch winger Arjen Robben, who scored three of the six goals, why the Bavarians hadn’t scored seven goals, as they had in the two previous games, instead of “just six.”

While Bayern is trying win to the Bundesliga, the Berliners are rightly worried about relegation.

Following Saturday’s game Hertha dropped to 17th place and is just three points ahead of Kaiserslautern, the team that is last.

The Local/mw