Titles, goals, wins & defeats
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This article was first published on August 24 at 10:28 a.m. and was updated after the new record was set.
On the first matchday of the 2008/09 season, Thomas Müller made his first appearance for FC Bayern in the Bundesliga at the age of 18. 709 games, 244 goals and 269 assists later, he is now the Munich team’s sole record player after coming on as a substitute against SC Freiburg.
The offensive all-rounder is the most loyal footballer in the Bundesliga, the longest-serving field player in Europe, he scored the third most goals in the club’s history, collected the most assists and was one of five players to play over 50,000 minutes for the record champions. When he was substituted on at VfL Wolfsburg (3:2) on matchday 1, Müller drew level with Sepp Maier – the goalkeeping legend had held the record since 1980, which stands at 709 games. Now Müller has overtaken him.
Müller, who has never changed clubs in his career, has won twelve German championships, making him the Bundesliga’s sole record holder. He ranks 18th in terms of the most appearances in the top German league, with 475 matches.
In order to get into the top 10, he will probably need a new contract and 518 games, as teammate Manuel Neuer (503 appearances) could already break into the top 10 this season. The contract of the Bavarian native, who has already collected 32 club titles, runs until 2025.
Müller’s historic games in the Bayern jersey
First game: On August 15, 2008, substituted for Miroslav Klose in the 79th minute of the 2:2 draw against Hamburger SV.
First Bayern goal: On September 12, 2009, the goal to make it 4-1 in the 78th minute of a 5-1 win in Dortmund.
Most goals: Müller scored a hat-trick four times – twice in the DFB Cup and twice in the Bundesliga. The most recent one was in the 6-2 win in Leverkusen in the 2018 cup semi-final.
Most goal involvements: In the 8-0 win against HSV in February 2015, Müller scored twice and provided three assists.
Biggest wins: Müller was on the field four times in an 8-0 win in the Bundesliga. HSV was beaten twice, as were Schalke and Darmstadt. In these four goals, Müller was involved in 13 goals. In the DFB Cup it was a 12-0 win against Bremer SV and in the Champions League a 7-0 win against FC Basel.
Biggest defeats: In the Bundesliga, Müller was involved twice in a 1-5 defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt, the first time in 2019 and most recently in December 2023. In the DFB Cup in October 2021, there was even a 0-5 defeat in Gladbach – the biggest defeat in Müller’s career.
