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Munich - Mario Gomez scored four goals as Bayern Munich routed FC Basel 7-0 on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Bayern won 7-1 on aggregate, having lost the first leg in Basel 1-0, and kept alive its dream of playing the final in its own stadium on May 19.
Gomez scored in a 23-minute spell, equaling the record set by AS Monaco striker Dado Prso for the quickest four-goal haul in the Champions League.
Arjen Robben scored twice, opening the scoring in the 10th minute and then crossing for Thomas Mueller to score in the 42nd before Gomez made it 3-0 with a tap-in before the interval.
Franck Ribery set up Gomez's next three goals, a volley in the 50th, header in the 61st and powerful shot in the 67th as the 26-year-old brought his season tally in the competition to 10 goals.
Only Lionel Messi, who scored five in Barcelona's 7-1 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen last week, has more, the Argentine leading the charts with 12.
Robben rounded off the scoring with his second in the 81st, eluding South Korean defender Park Joo Ho before inflicting further misery on the unfortunate Basel goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who made a string of good saves.
Bayern became the first team to win a Champions League knockout game 7-0 and eclipsed its previous biggest win in the competition, a 7-1 win over Portuguese side Sporting in March 2009.
Bastian Schweinsteiger started on the bench, Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes deciding not to risk the midfielder three days after he came back from a month out with an ankle injury.
Robben missed two great chances early on, firing straight at Sommer under pressure from Aleksandar Dragovic in the sixth, and hitting the side with a vicious shot a minute later.
Basel may have created a couple of chances too, only to be let down by the final pass, though Jerome Boateng had to be alert to clear from the lurking Marco Streller.
Fans at the sold-out 66 000 capacity Arena were not kept waiting long for the scoring to begin.
Mueller's blocked shot somehow squirmed its way through the Basel defense, and Robben unleashed a low shot to the left of Sommer.
The goalkeeper dived to his right to deny 28-year-old another two minutes later, and then stopped Gomez twice, first blocking an audacious backheel, and then a more conventional effort as Bayern tried to press home its advantage.
Despite pushing forward at every opportunity, Bayern was working very hard in defense. Even Ribery and Robben helped out at the back before sprinting forward to catch the visitors on the break.
Manuel Neuer was rarely threatened in the Bayern goal, twice dealing easily with corners, from Alex Frei and then Xherdan Shaqiri, who will join Bayern at the end of the season.
Frei did well to reach Marco Streller's cross in the 40th, when the former Borussia Dortmund player was unable to keep his effort on target.
Bayern finally got the second goal the noisy fans demanded two minutes later. It looked like Ribery played the bar too far ahead of Robben, but the Dutchman reached it and composed himself before firing a low cross for Mueller to volley beyond the helpless Sommer.
A goal for Basel at that stage would still have put the visitors through an away goals, so Bayern pushed forward for another.
Alex Frei fouled Toni Kroos in a promising position, and the crowd rose expectantly as the midfielder prepared to take the free kick. Kroos sent the ball sailing to the far post, where Holger Badstuber slid the ball across the goalline for Gomez to tap in.
Gomez was made to work harder for his next, the striker effectively deciding the tie when he reached Ribery's cross with a volley despite the ball being slightly behind him.
Neuer calmly collected Shaqiri's cross as Basel attempted an unlikely comeback, but there was no let up for the visitors' defense.
Bayern had three corners in succession, Mueller the next to see an effort stopped by Sommer.
Ribery then danced around the Basel defense before clipping a delicate chip for Gomez to complete his hat trick with a straightforward header.
Heiko Vogel immediately brought on Valentin Stocker - the scorer in Basel's 1-0 win on February 22 - and the striker had a goal ruled out for offside two minutes later.
But Ribery, who was later given a standing ovation for his outstanding performance, again did all the work on the left before pulling the ball back for Gomez to unleash an unstoppable shot past Sommer with his swinging left boot.
After Robben rounded off the scoring, only Abraham cut out Gomez's run as the striker sought to make it five in injury time.
