Bayern Munich forward Arjen Robben called the feeling of thrashing Barcelona 4-0 in the semifinal first leg of the Champions League "incredible and hard to believe," while the German side's skipper Philipp Lahm admitted the amazing result would take a little time to sink in.

The German champions were unstoppable at the Allianz Arena, scoring four unanswered goals as Barcelona were sent to the brink of elimination.

"It's incredible and hard to believe," Robben said. "Barcelona have dominated European football for the last five years. We can be proud, but we have to stay cool.

"Naturally, you should enjoy an evening like this. We started well and I had a good early chance. You had the feeling we were up for it. We all battled away, and we all put in a shift in defence. That was the key to victory."

Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger agreed that defence and hard work had indeed made all the difference, with Bayern taking advantage of their attacks with great effect. A brace from Thomas Muller and one apiece from Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben ensured Bayern will have a comfortable night at the Camp Nou in the second leg.

"Obviously, a victory like that takes time to sink in," Lahm said. "This team has the potential to hurt even the likes of Barcelona. That's half the job done.

"We'll have to work just as hard next week, especially in defence. That was the key to victory today (Tuesday). We pulled everyone back behind the ball and prevented them making chances. And we looked very good on the ball in attack."

"We tried to put them under pressure, and we succeeded," Schweinsteiger added. "At the start, it was a steep learning curve, because we've never played against a team with this kind of game plan. We did our job better and better as time went on. We invested a lot of effort, and it's great we were rewarded."

Barcelona fullback Dani Alves was impressed by Bayern's performance and admitted Barca had come up against the better side in the first leg. "I tip my hat to Bayern for the match they played," he said. "It was very difficult to play against them.

"My congratulations to great opponents. We have to try and turn around a four-goal deficit, which will obviously be very tough. But we'll still give it a go.

"Bayern pressed and pressed, and clearly did the tactical homework. We didn't have many chances, but that was down to them. After you've played stronger rivals, you have to congratulate them."