Birthday Boy Arjen Robben Pushes Bayern Munich Through Final Test Against Bochum

Bayern Munich continued their watertight preparation for the return of Bundesliga action later this month with a 5-1 victory over Bochum on Friday night, with a helping hand from the consistently excellent Arjen Robben.

The Dutch star, who was celebrating his 31st birthday on the night, pulled his side back into the game with a wonderful one-two via Thomas Muller in the 26th minute and galvanised Bayern as they went on to score three more goals in the second half, with Pep Guardiola's men marching on to a confident win. 

The Spanish coach continued his relentless desire for success, despite playing in a friendly match, with yet another full-strength side that wouldn't have looked out of place in the German top division or indeed the Champions League. 

Manuel Neuer returned in goal, big-name players such as Jerome Boateng and Juan Bernat shored up the defensive line, Bastian Schweinsteiger pulled the strings in midfield and Robert Lewandowski led the line up front. This wasn't a Bayern side that came to simply go through the motions. 

The solitary surprise inclusion in Guardiola's XI was Brazilian defender Dante, making up the only member of the squad who wouldn't perhaps make a full-strength side. Yet it was the central defender who helped Bayern take the lead in the 44th minute with a routine header, via the corner from Robben. 

The home side may have opened the scoring and took an unexpected lead through an outstanding volley from midfielder Danny Latza in the opening five minutes, but it was Bayern who went on to dominate as expected as the second half rumbled on. 

The inclusion of Mario Gotze, David Alaba and Sebastian Rode early in the second half made an immediate impact, with the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder scoring within five minutes of coming on.

The role of each player and their performance within this side was a timely reminder of just how much strength and talent Guardiola has to pick from when going from one match to the next. The German champions looked strong, fit and most importantly like their old self in the evening friendly—undoubtedly a welcome sign for their manager ahead of their upcoming tie against Wolfsburg next week. 

Much will be made of Guardiola's insistence on getting absolutely everything right, but the Bayern manager has good reason behind it. Dieter Hecking's side offered some genuine scares in the opening match of this season's league campaign and have only gotten better as the year as ticked on. 

Wolfsburg will welcome Bayern to the Volkswagen Arena next Friday with every intention of taking something from the match, and the German champions better be ready. 

Although the game was indeed a match for the entire squad to build up their fitness and confidence ahead of the coming tests, it was Robben who continuously outperformed all others and peppered the Bochum defence with the trademark dribbles, passes and indeed goals that have made him Bayern's best player this season. 

The winger truly outdid himself in the 78th minute, when he managed to cut inside like he's done so often, skip past two defenders like he's done so often and then smack a long-range shot past the keeper like he's done for so long. Everyone always knows exactly what Robben is about to do, but nobody has ever managed to stop him.

As the Wolves settle down for training next week, looking ahead to the Bayern side they'll meet, it will be this tricky winger more than any other in Guardiola's squad who will take up most of their preparation. Wolfsburg know they have to stop Robben if they want to halt this Bavarian machine. Bochum didn't, and they learned it the hard way.