🙌 Bayern Munich Cult Heroes: Mario Basler | OneFootball

Mario Basler was adored by Bayern Munich supporters, appreciated by teammates and derided by the management.

There was no doubts about the talents of the winger, but his application to training and off-the-field lifestyle was more Mario Balotelli than James Milner.

Basler arrived at Bayern from Werder Bremen in 1996 after a stunning couple of seasons with Die Werderaner.

He finished joint-top goalscorer in the Bundesliga with 20 goals in 1994-95, the same year the club finished runners-up in the league.

Basler was a goalscoring winger before the image of Arjen Robben cutting inside from the right and shooting was a glimmer in the eyes of any Bayern supporter.

In his 110 appearances during a three-year spell in Munich, he found the net 28 times which is still not a bad return for a winger.

He can look back on his career and certainly be proud of the success he achieved, particularly with Bayern.

Three Bundesliga titles and a DFB-Pokal were achieved while in Bavaria but he was also a part of the German national squad that won the European Championships in 1996.

Basler and Bayern were so close to a crowning achievement.

He of course scored one of his trademark free-kicks to put Bayern 1-0 up in the 1999 Champions League final against Manchester United, and we all know how that ended.

However, Basler will be remembered for what he did outside of football just as much for what he did with the football.

The German international was a chain smoker who enjoyed a drink or two and this was not counteracted by going that extra mile in training.

Basler had no appetite for the training ground, and knew his attitude rubbed people up the wrong way.

He once admitted to Der Spiegel that “Fifty percent of players hate me.”

Franz Beckenbbauer once referred to him as “incorrigible”.

One of the club’s legends and one of the greatest players to grace the turf has nothing pleasant to say about you, that’s something.

When it came to matchday though, Basler knew how to turn it on but more often than not.

Maybe that’s why he was so referred by supporters.

Bayern fans could see a player who enjoyed his life off the pitch but helped them enjoy theirs when he was on it.