By Gerald Fritsche, dpa

Bayern Munich opens its campaign for a fourth straight Bundesliga title on August 26. New trainer Carlo Ancelotti at the moment has a team with a lot of depth in the defence, but amid several injured players, looking thin in the attacking department.

Jena, Germany (dpa) – Carlo Ancelotti sat back, looking relaxed, in the crowded press conference room at the Carl Zeiss Jena stadium, seeming to answer some questions with just a smile. His return to this city in eastern Germany had gone how he imagined, and it helped to settle an old account.

Back in his playing days 36 years ago, Jena had eliminated AS Rome in the European Cup with a dominant 4-0 victory. But Friday evening, returning now as coach of mighty Bayern Munich, it was his team that dominated, winning their German Cup opening match 5-0, propelled by a first-half hat-trick by striker Robert Lewandowski.

Ancelotti advised his team to take fourth-division Jena seriously, and with his starting formation he underscored this aim, fielding the best team he could despite some of his top-name players nursing small injuries. One exception was fullback Mats Hummels, newly acquired from Dortmund, who started the match watching from the bench.

«After the Dortmund match (the German Super Cup the previous weekend) I wanted to give Mats a break,» Ancelotti said. «He and Javier Martinez have to get back into the rhythm and that’s why I let each one play for 45 minutes.»

Hummels said the move was all right with him. «I’m not yet 100 per cent. There’s still a bit missing.» But, Hummels would then see action in the second half and would score Bayern’s fifth and last goal in the 77th minute.

Martinez, together with David Alaba in the backfield, didn’t give Jena much of a chance, to the disappointment of Jena trainer Mark Zimmermann. «I wished we could have attacked more courageously in the first half,» he said.

But with Lewandowski scoring his first of three goals in the 3rd minute, the Jena players’ self-confidence before a home crowd of 19,000 fans was visibly shaken. Munich kept up the pressure, with two further Lewandowski goals in the 34th and 43rd minutes. Arturo Vidal added one in the 72nd before Hummels, playing the second half, scored the final goal.

Despite the one-sided result, Ancelotti came away with some conclusions about the club he has inherited from Pep Guardiola. The most important one is that he has a lot of options in the defence. «I was especially surprised by Martinez. He was the best man on the pitch in the Super Cup and today he proved it once again,» the coach said.

With Martinez, Alaba and Hummels soon to be joined by a recovering Jerome Boateng and later on a further German international, Holger Badstuber, Bayern’s central defensive department is well-staffed.

So much so that backs Joshua Kimmich and Rafinha can man the corners, positions that veteran Philipp Lahm and Spaniard Juan Bernat also play. Ancelotti will have a lot of choosing when setting up his defensive formation.

But the worries might now be more in the offensive department.
Lewandowski carried the attack against Jena, but the injury-related absence of such wingers as Kingsley Coman, Douglas Costa and Arjen Robben was more than evident.

Once more, striker Thomas Mueller, as was the case at the Euro 2016, couldn’t find the goal, while French veteran Franck Ribery again has only gained attention with his undisciplined revenge fouls against the opponents’ defenders, something Bayern’s new coach can’t be pleased about.

So Ancelotti will have his work cut out for him trying to find the best attacking formation as Bayern opens its campaign to win its fourth straight Bundesliga when it hosts Werder Bremen on August 26.