Bayern Munich continues strong form in rolling past Hannover

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Bayern Munich warmed up for its Champions League semifinal with Barcelona by crushing Hannover 6-1 on Saturday for its 13th straight

Mario Gomez (right) scored Bayern's third goal against Hannover with this strike at the AWD Arena :: Martin Rose/Getty Images

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Bayern Munich warmed up for its Champions League semifinal with Barcelona by crushing Hannover 6-1 on Saturday for its 13th straight Bundesliga victory.

Mario Gomez and Claudio Pizarro scored a pair each and Pizarro also set up two others despite Bayern resting several regulars.

"We don't have a B side, we only have one A team,'' Bayern's coach Jupp Heynckes said.

Bayern sealed the Bundesliga title two rounds ago and has 81 points, matching the record set last season by Borussia Dortmund in winning the championship.

Bayern's 26th victory of the season also set a Bundesliga record.

Dortmund also gave itself a boost before meeting Real Madrid in the other Champions League semifinal by beating Mainz 2-0 thanks to an early goal from Marco Reus and a late strike from Robert Lewandowski, his league-high 23rd of the season. Lewandowski has scored in 12 straight matches.

Elsewhere, Eintracht Frankfurt edged Schalke 1-0, Bayer Leverkusen blanked 10-man Hoffenheim 5-0, and Hamburger SV beat Fortuna Duesseldorf 2-1.

Werder Bremen played Wolfsburg in the late match.

Captain Steve Cherundolo equaled the Hannover appearance record with his 298th game but that was the only thing Hannover could celebrate.

Hannover came immediately under pressure when Franck Ribery struck the crossbar in the fifth minute.

Bayern went ahead in the 16th, when Lars Stindl diverted a cross from David Alaba into his own net. Pizarro then won the ball after a poor pass from Johan Djourou and released Ribery, who easily scored.

The Peru striker, playing this time as an attacking midfielder, then provided the pass for Gomez's first goal to complete the scoring in the first half.

Gomez, who had a hat trick inside six minutes in the 6-1 win over Wolfsburg in the German Cup semifinals earlier in the week, used a low cross from Jerome Boateng to get his second.

Pizarro, who also hit the crossbar, knocked in a low cross from Jerome Boateng at the near post before Hannover pulled one back.

Manuel Neuer fumbled a free kick and Andre Hoffmann headed in the loose ball in the 84th but Pizarro replied immediately with his second goal.

Heynckes changed eight players from the side that beat Wolfsburg. Gomez played in place of Mario Mandzukic, who is suspended for the Barcelona match Tuesday. Bastian Schweinsteiger missed the match because of a light ankle injury.

In Dortmund, the home side scored 33 seconds into the match, when Reus hut the target from 15 meters (yards) out. Lewandowski scored from close range in the 87th to extend his scoring streak. Only Gerd Mueller had been more consistent, scoring in 16 straight matches during the 1969-70 season.

Second-place Dortmund's fifth consecutive victory also mathematically sealed its place in the Champions League next season.

Leverkusen, which is eight points behind Dortmund in third, got two goals apiece from Stefan Kiessling and Andre Schuerrle, who has been linked with a move to Chelsea, according to reports in the German media. Stefan Reinartz completed the victory that left Hoffenheim in the relegation zone.

Hoffenheim's Eugen Polanski was sent off shortly after Kiessling's opening goal for a tackle on the striker. Simon Rolfes took the resulting penalty but Hoffenheim's goalkeeper Koen Casteels saved it.

Eintracht's goalkeeper Oka Nikolov also saved a penalty in his team's win over Schalke.

The winner came from a header by Marco Reuss shortly before halftime following a free-kick cross from 17-year-old Marc Stendera.

Schalke is now seven points behind Leverkusen, while Eintracht climbed back into a Europa League slot in sixth.

Captain Rafael van der Vaart scored both goals for Hamburg, while Duesseldorf's goal came from Dani Schahin.