In general, English is the world language, but in Munich you can also communicate very well with French – at least in the dressing room of FC Bayern Munich. Eight Frenchmen are currently under contract with the record champions. No other Bundesliga club has such a strong French connection. The first connection between French stars and FC Bayern was rather unfortunate.
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On August 20, 1994, Jean-Pierre Papin, after all Europe’s footballer of the year 1991, became the first French player to play a Bundesliga game for Munich. 26 more followed, in which the center forward scored only three goals. In 1996 the Papin chapter at Bayern was over, but the era of the successful French was only to really begin a short time later. Bixente Lizarazu worked extremely successfully on the left wing at FCB from 1997 and was six times German champion, five times cup winner and won the Champions League in his nine seasons with Munich.
From the turn of the millennium, both full-back positions were firmly in French hands, because what Lizarazu was on the left, Willy Sagnol, the champion of the half-field flank, was on the right. Sagnol scored 40 assists in 184 Bundesliga games – an outstanding rate for a right-back. And his collection of titles was also impressive (five times German champion, four times cup winners, one time Champions League winner.
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From 2007, Emperor Franck ruled the Säbener. With 86 goals (in 273 Bundesliga games), Franck Ribery is the top French scorer in the Bundesliga. He also prepared Arjen Robben’s winning goal in the 2013 Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund. His overall large share in the 2012/13 triple was honored in the same year with the title of European Footballer of the Year. Ribery shaped FC Bayern and the Bundesliga for over a decade – only very few managed that at this level, even with the record champions.
The triple win in 2020 also had a strong French touch. Corentin Tolisso, Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez were already playing for Bayern, Kingsley Coman even scored the golden goal in the final against Paris St. Germain. No wonder then that the Munich team kept looking for French players on the transfer market. Dayot Upamecano was the last Frenchman to move to the Bavarian capital in the summer.
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In addition to the 22-year-old central defender, his compatriots Coman, Hernandez, Pavard, Tolisso, Tanguy Nianzou, Bouna Sarr and Mickael Cuisance are also under contract with the Nagelsmann squad. Leroy Sane also has a French passport in addition to his German passport. At Niklas Süle’s school French, he speaks to his colleagues in their national language, as does the German-Cameroonian Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. On the 6th matchday, Julian Nagelsmann even set up a completely francophone defense line with Pavard-Süle-Upamecano-Hernandez.
Most recently, Hernandez in particular has come back to the fore. After returning from the meniscus tear on matchday 4, the left foot is an indispensable part of the team and has not missed a minute since then. As an aggressive tackle, he has played a big part in the flawless record in Munich over the past few weeks.
Bayern have big plans this season and their French block is a key to success in all three competitions. The footsteps of Lizarazu, Sagnol and Ribery are big, but the current French parliamentary group in Bavaria can take on this legacy together.
