Juninho's free-kick vs Bayern Munich was so good that it made Oliver Kahn headbutt the post | OneFootball

Juninho Pernambucano is widely recognised at the greatest free-kick taker of all-time.

The former Lyon man was absolutely lethal from set-pieces throughout the course of his stellar playing career.

Juninho rippled the back of the net from a dead-ball situation 77 times, which is more than any other professional footballer in history.

As well as possessing a superhuman-like conversion rate, the 48-year-old is responsible for some of the most outstanding goals scored from a free-kick.

A number of Juninho's finest came in Champions League action for Lyon and perhaps the best of the bunch came against Bayern Munich in 2003.

What made the long-range strike even better was the fact that it was Oliver Kahn between the sticks for the German side, who was regarded as the best goalkeeper on the planet at the time.

Despite his unquestionable quality, the fiery shot-stopper stood no chance of saving Juninho's powerful, dipping effort.

Kahn's dive to try and tip the ball past the post was all in vain and he actually ended up head butting the post instead.

Take a look for yourself...

Video: Juninho's incredible free-kick vs Bayern Munich

Ouch. Fortunately, Kahn didn't seriously injure himself in his doomed attempt at saving Juninho's frighteningly accurate pile-driver.

The movement the Brazilian was able to get on the ball was quite remarkable and his technique from set-pieces was so good that it had the great Andrea Pirlo studying him obsessively.

“The search for Juninho’s secret had become an obsession with me, to the extent that it occupied my every waking thought,” Pirlo wrote in his autobiography, per Guardian. “During his time at Lyon, that man made the ball do some quite extraordinary things.

"He’d lay it on the ground, twist his body into a few strange shapes, take his run-up and score. He never got it wrong. Never. I checked out his stats and realised it couldn’t just be chance.

"He was like an orchestra conductor who’d been assembled upside down, with the baton held by his feet instead of his hands… I studied him intently, collecting DVDs, even old photographs of games he’d played.”

Pirlo was pretty darn good at free-kicks, but even he pales in comparison to Juninho.

We can't see anyone equalling the master anytime soon.

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