Pope Francis applauds 'wonderful' Bayern Munich demolition of Roma

Following  Bayern Munich's 7-1 away demolition of Roma on Tuesday , the German champions continued a two-day visit to Italy by meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican.

The football-loving Argentinian head of the Roman Catholic Church said he was “surprised by the result” but according to a Bayern statement told the team on Wednesday morning: “You delivered a wonderful game of football yesterday.”

The Bavarians have now firmly established themselves as one of the frontrunners for Europe's top club competition this season, after scoring five goals in the first 35 minutes on their way to their European record away win which left them top of Group E with maximum points from three games.

The Bayern coach Pep Guardiola completely outclassed his Roma counterpart in every aspect of the game as Bayern, led by the Dutch forward Arjen Robben, who netted twice, moved up to nine points, five ahead of second-placed Roma.

 
 
Robben heaped praise on the team's tactical preparation: “I am still convinced that Roma are a tough team but we really must thank our coaching team because they prepared us outstandingly for this game.

“I have never seen anything like it, at least not against such a strong team like Roma. They had no answer to our attacking game and that quickly decided the match.”

“This was a huge step into the right direction,” said the captain Philipp Lahm. “Especially with Manchester City drawing 2-2 against CSKA Moscow. But we are not through just yet. In two weeks we need to win again and then it will look really good.”