A record-hunting phenomenon
Status: 10:50 a.m
assists. He comes to a total of 20 in 28 competitive games – in addition to eight goals” /> Thomas Müller currently shines especially with assists. He comes to a total of 20 in 28 competitive games – in addition to eight goals
Source: Getty Images/Sebastian Widmann
Thomas Müller inspires the Bundesliga above all with his assists. Now the FC Bayern star can surpass his own record. He sends a challenge to superstar Lionel Messi – and soon there will also be contract talks.
Dhe record man relies on animal relaxation. After the training sessions at FC Bayern, Thomas Müller likes to play with his Labrador named Murmel or to go to the Gut Wettlkam stud farm, where he breeds dressage horses with his wife Lisa.
Apparently the perfect balance for the world champion in busy football: Müller is in top form and is one of the best players in the Bundesliga again this season. Even at the age of 32, after almost 14 years in professional football, he has hardly ever been injured and always sets new records. Experts and fans marvel at this player. Thomas Müller, the phenomenon.
This Sunday (5.30 p.m., in the WELT sports ticker) he will play with the Munich team at Hertha BSC. In the game, Müller can further extend the record he has just set: he has prepared 150 goals in the Bundesliga so far, most recently two in a 4-0 away win against 1. FC Köln – more than any other league player. In second place is the former Bayern star Franck Ribéry, now under contract with the Italian first division club US Salernitana, with 92 assists.
Only Messi managed more assists
In the top European leagues, only Lionel Messi has managed more assists (180) since Müller’s debut as a professional in 2008. The Argentinian superstar, who joined Paris St. Germain from FC Barcelona last summer, played almost 40 more games in this period. After the victory in Cologne, Müller wrote on Twitter with a wink to Messi: “Hola. I keep working to get closer.”
In addition, the Bavarian leads the list of the best assist providers this Bundesliga season with 18 assists, he initiated nine goals more than second, Bayer Leverkusen’s super talent Florian Wirtz. No one had managed that many assists after 19 matchdays since data collection began 20 years ago.
Müller is likely to set his own record this season: so far, 21 assists in a league season have been his top value. In the Champions League he was directly involved in four goals in six preliminary round games this season (two assists, two goals). “It’s just fun to contribute to success, to be directly involved in goals,” said Müller. “I would be even happier if I could meet a few more times myself.”
The attacking professional scored five goals himself in the current season. Only star striker Robert Lewandowski, who was honored as world footballer for the second time in a row this week, is involved in even more goals (24).
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“The templates in recent years and especially this season are extraordinary,” said Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann about Müller’s performance. “When a player has that many assists, it shows that he is playing for the team. It is well known that Thomas has the great gift of recognizing spaces, occupying them and making good use of his team-mates.”
With 30 titles, Müller is already the most successful soccer player in Germany. Should Bayern be top of the table at the end of the season, it would be his eleventh German championship. That would also be a record again: he is currently the player with the most championship titles with the Austrian David Alaba, who has switched to Real Madrid. In addition, Müller triumphed twice in the Champions League and six times in the DFB Cup. He won 294 of his 402 Bundesliga games – a club record. No professional in the Bundesliga has celebrated so many successes with one club.
Müller is the outfield player with the most games for the master. He is an important player for national coach Hansi Flick, the World Cup in Qatar in winter would be Müller’s seventh major tournament with Germany. Before the EM 2021, Flick’s predecessor Joachim Löw had called Müller back to the national team.
Müller has now played 110 games (42 goals) for his country, only five players have played more games, the record holder is Lothar Matthäus with 150 appearances. “Thomas is a phenomenon for me,” said Flick recently. “There will never be anyone like him again. You can’t really grasp the way he plays, but he’s always positive, has the energy of an 18-year-old and encourages everyone in the team.”
Uli Hoeneß is particularly enthusiastic about Müller’s character. The honorary president of FC Bayern is already thinking about the time after Müller’s career as a player and told the “Abendzeitung”: “One day he could also be president or chairman of the board.”
Until then, Müller should still play many games for the German record champions. His contract with Munich is valid until June 30, 2023. The club would like to extend the contract of the crowd’s favorite this year, and a term until the summer of 2025 is under discussion. Then Thomas Müller would be 35 years old. a phenomenon.
