Hamburg  - VfL Wolfsburg are trying hard to keep their feet on the ground after a 5-1 demolition of holders Bayern Munich made them new Bundesliga leaders and top title favourites.

"They played like champions," said German football federation sports director Matthias Sammer on Premiere pay-TV after the final whistle on Saturday.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung paper agreed on Sunday, saying: "The title would no longer be a miracle."

Wolfsburg moved atop the standings with their eighth straight win which the deadly attacking pair of Edin Dzeko and Grafite sealed with two goals each in a four-goal frenzy spanning just 14 minutes in the second half.

The display was ironically probably on par with Bayern's recent 7-1 Champions League demolition of Sporting Lisbon, but Wolfsburg refused to get carried away.

"We never thought we could beat them 5-1. But we are still not thinking about the title. There are still eight games to play," said Dzeko.

Coach Felix Magath added: "We played well, but we do not need to speak about the championship. Of course our situation is better now. But my main concern is what Stuttgart, who are our main rivals for a place in the UEFA Cup, were doing.

"We now have a chance in our next game at Borussia Moenchengladbach to show whether we belong at the top, or not. I am looking forward to seeing if we continue playing as we did."

Asked about his title favourite, Magath said: "Bayern Munich. They have an easy run-in."

But Magath and his players must live with the fact that they are now among the top contenders in a tight title race. Wolfsburg lead SV Hamburg only by goal difference, with dethroned Hertha Berlin two points behind and Munich trailing by three.

The Brazilian Grafite raised his tally to a league-leading 20 goals and also provided the ultimate insult on Saturday with an outrageous back-heeler he described as "the greatest goal I have ever scored."

Bosnian Dzeko has been on target 15 times and together with Dzeko provided 35 of Wolfsburg's league-leading 58 goals. The other key figure is midfielder Zvjezdan Misimovic who has six goals and 16 assists.

Placed ninth nine points behind then leaders TSG Hoffenheim during the winter break, Wolfsburg have never looked back after hibernation with one draw and eight wins. They are the best team in 2009 and the best home team all season with 12 wins and a draw.

But Magath, who was fired in Munich two years ago after leading them to back-to-back league and cup doubles, insisted that no one should expect his team to play every game like Saturday's match.

Magath named Grafite's touch of genius "a once-in-a-lifetime goal" and and the win over Munich "unique." But the man known for his rigid training regime provided the final insult when he replaced goalkeeper Diego Benaglio by inexperienced Andre Lenz in the final minute.

Backed by Germany's leading carmakers Volkswagen as team sponsor, Magath has seemingly done everything right when he revamped a team for around 30 million euros since taking the job of coach and sports director in 2007.

The best finish to date of Wolfsburg, a young club founded only in 1945 and in the Bundesliga since 1997, was fifth place last season.

The final eight games will determine how far they can go, a fact that also applies to Munich who left battered and bruised four days ahead of a crucial Champions League quarter-final with Barcelona.

"That is very sore. Of course we have had enough. It was simply disappointing, but we have deal with that. It is understandable that the atmosphere is everything but good," said coach Juergen Klinsmann.

Bayern manager Uli Hoeness walked past reporters stone-faced and refusing to speak after the game. Hoeness had said before the match that Wolfsburg would be a real title challenger if they won, but he likely had not expected his team's biggest defeat in seven years. dpa