Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez scored four times and Franck Ribery twice as Bayern demolished SC Freiburg 7-0 yesterday to go back to the top of the German Bundesliga.

Four days before facing Villarreal in Spain in the UEFA Champions League, in-form Bayern kept a clean sheet for the sixth straight match in all competitions as it moved to 12 points from five games.

Gomez, who was the league's top scorer last season, has notched eight goals in five league games. Substitute Nils Petersen completed the rout with a goal in the last minute.

Borussia Moenchengladbach moved into second place with a 1-0 win over Kaiserslautern, while champion Borussia Dortmund lost further ground after slumping to a 1-2 home defeat to promoted Hertha Berlin to stay on seven points in 10th place.

Raffael and Peter Niemeyer scored in the 49th and 81st minutes for Hertha. Robert Lewandowski pulled one back in the 88th, but was unable to prevent Dortmund's first home defeat in 19 games.

Third place

Bayer Leverkusen is in third place, also on 10 points, following its 4-1 win at Augsburg on Friday. Hoffenheim moved up to sixth after crushing host Mainz 05 4-0 while VfB Stuttgart blanked Hanover 3-0.

Werder Bremen, on nine, can join Bayern at the top if it beats Hamburg SV later. Schalke 04, also on nine, travels to VfL Wolfsburg today.

On Friday, Leverkusen boosted its confidence for the Champions League opener at Chelsea in midweek by crushing promoted Augsburg.

Sidney Sam struck twice and Stefan Kiessling and Eren Derdiyok were also on target while former Chelsea player Michael Ballack looked sharp.

"I am very satisfied with Michael but I don't yet know whether he will start against Chelsea. We will not reveal our lineup today," coach Robin Dutt told reporters. "Augsburg kept us very busy so it is important to recover quickly from this match."

Eren Derdiyok's goal in the 79th gave the scoreline a flattering look, tucking away a rebound after the ball fell kindly for the substitute from Simon Jentzsch's save.

"We invested a lot (in the game). We scored the first goal but conceded the equalizer much too early," said Augsburg coach Jos Luhukay.