Shell-shocked Tottenham torn to shreds by a rampant Bayern Munich

Tottenham 2 Bayern Munich 7

Quality finishing left Tottenham’s night in ruins as slick Bayern ripped them apart in stunning style.

On a wounding and humiliating night, it was ex-Arsenal man Serge Gnabry who made the hosts suffer most, with four second half goals after shows of blistering pace and composure.

No wonder the huge South Stand was only a third full by the time the final whistle sounded.

The rout that they witnessed had not been obviously coming their way during a breath-taking and fairly even first half, but that will be forgotten after a demoralising second half.

Heung-Min Son put the hosts ahead on 12 minutes but Joshua Kimmich soon levelled it and after Robert Lewandowski had put Bayern ahead, Gnabry struck twice in two minutes soon after the restart. And he was only just getting going.

A Harry Kane penalty gave Spurs a much-needed lift and Christian Eriksen came on to rifle just over to briefly raise hopes of an improbable comeback. How fanciful an idea that turned out to be.

Increasingly, the sublimely gifted Philippe Coutinho pulled the strings and drew the sting out of the home side and Gnabry raced away in a counter-attack to complete a superb hat-trick.

Lewandowski helped himself to another after a lay-off from Coutinho in the final minutes and then Gnabry bagged another against a bedraggled home defence.

Spurs’ route to last year’s Champions League final was hardly a case of riding a favourable wave through uncomplicated channels. It was full of jeopardy and fear of elimination, even at the group stage, and if Mauricio Pochettino’s men are to avoid another angst-ridden ride to the knockouts, they will need to play catch-up again, having already dropped points against Olympiacos.

The evening began so promisingly for the rampant hosts. Three times in the opening 12 minutes Son got in behind the Bayern defence and onto well-timed passes. On the first two occasions, he was thwarted by Manuel Neuer, but it was a case of third time lucky as his dart into the right channel to get on the end of a Moussa Sissoko pass produced the reward Spurs were after.

Tottenham’s joy was short lived. Three minutes after Son’s strike, Bayern were level when Joshua Kimmich cleverly wrong-footed Tanguy Ndmobele outside the area before burying a perfect right foot shot inside the far post, curling past Hugo Lloris’ right hand.

Lloris had already been called into action by then, punching a shot away from former Gnabry, with the game barely 90 seconds old.

The pace and quality on show remained unrelenting. Kane rounded Neuer but saw his angled effort cleared. The Bayern keeper then made another fine low save to deny Ndombele, who was perfectly placed to sweep an unimpeded shot towards the bottom corner after being picked out by serge Aurier’s square pass.

There was a lull of sorts, but only slightly. And the half ended with yet more drama, when Lewandowski gave another example of just how lethal he can be when he took advantage of Spurs’ inability to clear during a goalmouth scramble, turning sharply inside the D to send a low shot past Lloris’ left hand.

Lead established, Bayern ramped it up after the interval and two goals in two minutes from Gnabry killed the contest. First he raced at a retreating defence before drilling home, then angled a shot into the net off the far post with his left foot to make it 4-1.

A mistimed tackle from Kingsley Coman gifted Tottenham a penalty on 59 minutes, which Kane duly dispatched, but the damage had been done and plenty more was on the way as the night took an even more devastating for the home side.

They will not be relishing the return fixture at the Allianz Arena in December.

Line up: Lloris – Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose – Sissoko, Winks (Lamela 81), Ndombele (Eriksen 64) – Alli (Moura 71) – Kane, Son. Subs not used: Gazzaniga, Sanchez, Dier, Moura, Davies.