Hamburg vs. Bayern Munich: Winners and Losers from DFB Pokal

Bayern Munich advanced to the third round of the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday night, beating Hamburg 3-1 at the Imtech Arena.

The two-time defending German cup champions took an early lead and never looked back, progressing to the next round rather comfortably.

Robert Lewandowski capitalized on an early mistake to score the opener after less than seven minutes before David Alaba made it 2-0 before half-time with a long-ranged blast.

After the break, Franck Ribery added a third with a deflected effort. Pierre-Michel Lasogga pulled a goal back for Hamburg late in the game, but it was not enough to make up for his side's poor performance in the first half.

Following Wednesday's match, B/R investigates those who fared better and worse in the action. Click "Begin Slideshow" for a closer look.

Loser: Heiko Westermann

Michael Sohn/Associated Press

Hamburg came out ready to fight for their progression on Wednesday night, but within seven minutes all their early pressure was put to waste.

After chasing down a ball near the corner flag, Heiko Westermann played a weak pass to his goalkeeper that was intercepted by Thomas Muller.

The 25-year-old cut back for Robert Lewandowski who, after having his initial shot towards an open goal cleared off the line, made no mistake with his follow-up. All too simple for a striker who's scored more than 100 goals in the last three seasons and counting.

Hamburg were always underdogs and would probably have lost anyway. But Westermann's unnecessary error decimated their odds of winning far, far too early.

Winner: Franck Ribery

Michael Sohn/Associated Press

Wednesday's Pokal match marked the first time this season that Franck Ribery was used from the start, and for that alone, he is a winner. But the Frenchman not only competed the full 90 minutes, he put on a vintage display.

With Mario Gotze rested, Ribery was restored to his position on the left wing and, critically, his role as Bayern's primary creative player.

Gotze this season has made big strides in his career, especially over the last month, calling into question whether the 31-year-old Ribery would become a full-time starter when fit.

It still isn't clear what role Ribery will have this season, but to his credit, the former Marseille man put his best foot forward. His creativity was constantly endangering the Hamburg defense and he was rewarded with a goal in the second half.

Loser: Jaroslav Drobny

Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Like Westermann, Jaroslav Drobny made a costly error that killed off any chance of HSV progressing. The veteran goalkeeper was beaten from nearly a mile out moments before half-time, the resulting goal leaving the score 2-0 to Bayern.

David Alaba deserves credit for striking the ball with considerable power, and his shot did swerve in the air. But it also was chest-high and right down the center; Drobny only had to dive after he'd misjudged the ball's flight and moved to his left.

Credit to the Bayern man for having the audacity to shoot from such range and for striking with such power, but from Drobny's perspective, the goal conceded was a poor and very costly error.

Any number of excellent saves Drobny made in the latter stages of the game cannot erase the fact that when the result was still in the balance, he left much to be desired.

Winner: Thomas Muller

Michael Sohn/Associated Press

Mario Gotze and Arjen Robben have established themselves as Bayern's most dangerous attackers this season, the former out-scoring all his teammates with eight goals in the campaign thus far and the latter netting five times in under 600 minutes of play.

It's been somewhat of a difficult time for the likes of Ribery and Thomas Muller to watch their teammates succeed to the point of threatening their roles as starters.

With Robben injured and Gotze rested on Wednesday, Muller started in his favored position on the right wing and put on a great performance.

His pressing and recovery of the ball led to Robert Lewandowski's opener, and the only things that kept him from scoring four or more goals were the referee on an offside goal, and some excellent saves by Jaroslav Drobny.

Although he let Ribery do the creative work, Muller always seemed to pop up and prove a direct threat on goal. He'll take encouragement from his performance in Hamburg.