OneFootball
Peter Fitzpatrick·17 de setembro de 2024
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Peter Fitzpatrick·17 de setembro de 2024
Thomas Müller was already certified Bayern Munich and Champions League royalty, but he took that a step further on Tuesday.
The 35-year-old, who celebrated his birthday just four days ago, came off the bench against Dinamo Zagreb to make his 152nd appearance for the Bavarian giants in European football’s top tournament.
That puts him past Barcelona icon Xavi, whom he was level with on 151, and into fifth place on the all-time appearance list.
However, Müller now holds a unique record as the player with the most Champions League appearances for a single club.
Müller made his debut for Bayern in the Champions League over 15 years ago, in March 2009, while Jurgen Klinsmann was in charge of the club. He came off the bench in a 7-1 smashing of Sporting, scoring the final goal in the rout.
It was the first of 54 goals for the German World Cup winner in the competition, which places him seventh in that list. Müller has also won two titles in 2013 and 2020 and played in four finals.
His night of history also saw him honoured before kick-off with a small statue, flowers and a plaque for becoming Bayern’s overall record appearance holder (now 712) against Freiburg two weeks ago.
A one-club man, and a true Champions League legend.