The statisticians failed to agree on Tuesday evening, one firm counting 118 touches of the ball by Daniel van Buyten, another giving the Belgian a tally of 107. But at the end of the day, the precise number of touches made by the Bayern defender away to Hoffenheim was irrelevant. What really mattered was a thrust of his thigh in stoppage time and his final touch of the night, which forced the ball over the line and sealed Munich’s 2-1 victory.
On the long journey home – the team bus arrived at the Säbener Strasse just after three in the morning – the 32-year-old had plenty of time to relive his first goal of the campaign. The monitors on board the bus showed the highlights of Tuesday evening’s matches “on a loop for the whole 300 kilometres,” the player reported. “I watched my goal at least ten times,” and that from every conceivable perspective.
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