With 710 competitive matches, Thomas Müller is FC Bayern’s sole record player, thus finally ascending to the Olympus of the record champions. How great are his achievements?
Everything was ready when Thomas Müller was substituted in the 59th minute against SC Freiburg. Suddenly there was a great atmosphere in the Munich Arena. The fans were loudly calling out his last name, the record champions were using special Müller-themed advertising boards.
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
And then in the 78th minute it became almost kitschy: Of course the 34-year-old scored in his record performance – and it was worth seeing. Without further ado, the fans in the south curve rolled out a banner thanking Müller and instead of “One shot, one goal – Bayern” they sang “One shot, one goal – Müller”.
Eberl declares Müller an icon
After the confident 2-0 victory, sporting director Max Eberl was able to correctly assess his player’s performance: “Thomas Müller is an icon. People always talk about Gerd Müller, Sepp Maier and Uli Hoeneß and other greats like that. Thomas Müller is now one of those players with his record number,” said the 50-year-old, unpacking the club’s biggest names. And rightly so?
The fact is: 710 competitive matches is already a huge record in itself. But the fact that Müller played all of them for a club like FC Bayern, where the competition is greater than anywhere else, takes his record up another level. On top of that, the Upper Bavarian is an outfield player – and not a goalkeeper like the previous record holder Sepp Maier.
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
Müller’s usual humor
The record man himself responded with a mixture of humor and self-confidence to the question of SPORTS1where he places himself among all the Bayern legends. “Well, they’re all behind me now as far as the games are concerned,” said Müller, making the entire crowd of journalists laugh.
However, he added seriously: “I can repeat what Uli Hoeneß has often said: The greatest is Gerd Müller. Without him, the club might not even exist in this form.”
And he continued: “When I look at where the club was 15 years ago when I started and where it is now – also in terms of its international presence – I certainly helped to move the club forward at a good time,” said the record holder.
Müller is confident, but he sees the other Müller as being above all others: “Gerd has scored 365 goals, I’ll put him above that. We’d have to discuss the others.”
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
Living legend
With all his games and titles, Thomas Müller is of course a living legend of FCB. But there is a “problem”: there is no real category for him. He is not a world-class goalkeeper like Maier, not an exceptional talent like Franz Beckenbauer, not a pure goal scorer like Gerd Müller. He is simply Thomas Müller – a unique individual with no comparison.
Club patron Uli Hoeneß said just a few weeks ago that he believes he would still be a top player today. He referred to his speed and technical finesse, which distinguished him during his playing days.
He listed some of his teammates and also named heroes from the 1970s who might not make it to the top today. His conclusion: legends become legends – no matter what the circumstances.
Will Müller make it to 750?
The reverse is also true. According to this, Thomas Müller would probably have been one of the greats 50 years ago. Maybe he would have weighed a few kilos more, maybe he wouldn’t have received as much love from the fans as he does today. But he would certainly have prevailed. Also because he was almost never injured.
“I think that’s a very, very crazy number. I don’t know if you can really assess it as an outsider. But as someone who is involved in this business myself, I know what it means to play 50 games every season. You have to reach the semi-finals in every competition. And they say you have to be healthy for 14 or 15 years. That’s a really big number. You can only take your hat off to him,” said Joshua Kimmich of his colleague, almost reverently. Müller could even reach the 750 competitive games mark – assuming a successful season for Bayern.
And maybe he will get a new contract – the current one expires in the summer of 2025. While Eberl did not want to comment on this, or SPORTS1-Question cleverly handled the affair, the fans in the south curve have a clear stance on the matter. Their banner read: “710 times 100 percent for FC Bayern and no end in sight.”
