UEFA Cup favourites Bayern Munich laid down their credentials for the title with a 5-0 away hammering of Belgian side Anderlecht.

The Bundesliga leaders - who finished a surprise fourth in their domestic competition last season and are usually amongst the contenders for the Champions League - all but booked their spot in the quarter finals thanks to goals from Lukas Podolski and four summer signings Hamit Altintop, Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose and Franck Ribery.

The hosts had to play the best part of the match with ten men after Poland defender Marcin Wasilewski was sent off for a second yellow card just before half-time. Bayern were already leading thanks to Altintop's ninth-minute lob, while Toni doubled the lead in first half injury-time with a sweet volley.

France star Ribery was then brought off the bench to make the one-man advantage pay, and he made a huge impact, setting up German-Polish duo Klose and Podolski for third and fourth goals before grabbing one himself with a wonderful long-range free kick.

The all-German clash of the round saw Bayer Leverkusen edge Hamburg 1-0 at the BayArena thanks to a 77th-minute strike from Greece international striker Theofanis Gekas.

The only notable chance in the first 45 minutes fell to the hosts, veteran Bosnia forward Sergej Barbarez hitting a left-foot shot from 18 yards that HSV keeper Frank Rost saved with ease.

A more open second half saw David Jarolim fire over for the guests, but Bayer were making most of the running with Tranquillo Barnetta going close and Gekas finally making one of his headers pay after spurning three opportunities.

Marseille, meanwhile, gave themselves a good footing for the second leg with a 3-1 home win over Zenit St. Petersburg.

A double by former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse eight minutes either side of the break and a 48th-minute strike by Senegal hit-man Mamadou Niang gave L'OM a commanding lead but Andrei Arshavin bagged a late away goal to give the Russians hope.

France man Cisse ran onto a Taye Taiwo pass to drive home past Viacheslav Malafeev to give the hosts a deserved half-time lead, while Niang got a deserved goal when he finished off the post soon after the restart.

Cisse thought he had put the tie beyond Zenit when he converted Samir Nasri's pass from the edge of the box, but Arshavin had the final word when he outpaced Ronald Zubar on the left before finishing with aplomb.

Benfica's home clash with Getafe ended in a 2-1 defeat for the Portuguese side, who had Oscar Cardozo sent off after only nine minutes.

Getafe, from the Madrid suburbs and recent Liga conquerors of the mighty Real Madrid, then raced into a two-goal lead through Ruben De la Red and Pablo Hernandez.

But Benfica clawed their way back into the tie when Angola forward Mantorras scored with a quarter of an hour remaining.

The second legs for all the aforementioned ties take place on the evening of Wednesday March 12.

Reda Maher / Eurosport