Bayern in good cheer for top Bundesliga duel with Leverkusen

 As the beer barrels were being tapped at the Munich Oktoberfest, Bayern Wednesday cracked open the Cottbus defence for the goals to flow in a 5-0 hammering to move three points clear at the top.

 The biggest Bayern win in Munich's Allianz Arena since the stadium opened in the summer of 2005 has given coach Ottmar Hitzfeld more reasons to celebrate.

 His two strike signings, Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni, are in scintillating form, having struck up an immediate understanding, while Frenchman Franck Ribery is already repaying the 25-million-euro (35 million dollars) outlay for his services.

 Klose's three goals against Cottbus took his tally to eight in six of Bayern's seven games. The Germany striker has scored in every game he has appeared in but one - against his old club Werder Bremen.

 Klose has also contributed with three assists, with Italy striker Toni again benefiting from a Klose pass in scoring his fifth of the season against Cottbus, a team now firmly rooted to the bottom of the table.

 "You could see the understanding was there already during pre-season training camp. They were soon on close personal terms and having good talks with each other," Hitzfeld said.

 "We are really fortunate to have two top-class strikers like this."

   Meanwhile Hitzfeld is full of praise for a 17-year-old talent who came on as a substitute in the 72nd minute against Cottbus for his Bundesliga debut and promptly set up two Klose goals.

 Toni Kroos, recently voted best player at the under-17 World Cup, is now the youngest-ever Bayern player to appear in the Bundesliga and is regarded as the best emerging talent in German football.

 "He is a real world-class player when you see what he does in training," said Klose.

 Leverkusen meanwhile come off a 2-1 victory at Nuremberg, and have their own on-form striker in young Germany international Stefan Kiessling who struck his fourth goal in the last three games.

 Coach Michael Skibbe hopes to have captain Bernd Schneider back following a knee injury but has played down talk of his team being the biggest threat to Bayern this season.

 That role, however, goes to Schalke 04, who have climbed up to third on 13 points - four adrift of Bayern - but face a tough test against visiting fifth-placed Hertha Berlin on Friday evening.

 Meanwhile SV Hamburg, in fourth place level on points with Schalke, will be seeking a third successive win when they take on visiting Wolfsburg, led by Hamburg old boy Felix Magath.

 Werder Bremen meet visiting Arminia Bielefeld, with Brazilian midfielder Diego struggling to recover from a muscle strain and fellow midfielder Daniel Jensen suffering from a foot injury.

 They are the latest in a long list of injury problems for Werder who had 11 players unavailable in Tuesday's 1-1 draw at Wolfsburg.

 "At the moment there is more chance of losing a player to injury than there is of one returning," sports director Klaus Allofs said.

 Champions VfB Stuttgart, buoyed by a 1-0 win over Bochum, visit lowly Hansa Rostock who Tuesday surprisingly beat Hertha Berlin 3-1 away and have now won their last two games after beginning the season with five successive defeats.

 Cup holders Nuremberg are meanwhile struggling at second-to-bottom after one win in seven games and three home defeats, and now face a tricky trip to Bochum before a visit next week to Bayern Munich.

 Borussia Dortmund are also desperate for a win as they travel to sixth-placed Karlsruhe following two successive defeats including a poor performance in Tuesday's 3-0 home drubbing by Hamburg.

 On Sunday, bottom club Cottbus - without a win this season and searching for a replacement for sacked coach Petrik Sander - are at home to seventh-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, while midtable Hanover 96 entertain lowly MSV Duisburg.

DPA