Robben and Neuer hailed by peers
Yet another prestigious accolade has come the way of Arjen Robben and Manuel Neuer. In the traditional half-yearly poll among German professional players conducted by respected weekly journal kicker , Robben was named best outfield player and Neuer best goalkeeper of the season so far, both men winning the vote by a substantial margin. 46.7 percent of the 240 Bundesliga players in the survey voted for Robben and no fewer than 56.3 percent for Neuer, a result kicker described as "like being knighted".
Lahm and Alonso earn world-class status
Two FCB stars have also topped another widely-observed kicker classification. In its German football rankings for the season to date, the magazine named Philipp Lahm and Xabi Alonso as the only Bundesliga players worthy of the world-class label in the defensive midfield category. In the attacking midfield category, Mario Götze came second and earned the international class tag.