He's now, finally, not only the king of Bavaria, but the whole of Germany. Franck Ribéry has won his ninth German championship, making him the sole Bundesliga record champion. The Frenchman is now ahead of Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Oliver Kahn and Mehmet Scholl, who each won eight titles. Thomas Müller, Arjen Robben and David Alaba also joined this legendary group by winning the 2019 title.
In addition, Alaba also set a new record. The 26-year-old has won the Meisterschale more times than any other player at that age. If Kingsley Coman keeps going though, he could theoretically achieve the same in a few years, because the Frenchman has won his fourth German championship - at the age of just 22. In addition, the forward already won the championship in Italy in 2015 with Juventus and twice previously in France with Paris St.-Germain. That makes this his seventh consecutive championship - something quite unique in the top five European leagues for a player his age.
It was already Robben's 12th national championship, which means he's further extended his Dutch record. The Bayern number ten had already replaced Johan Cruyff (ten national titles) last season as the Dutch record title winner and has now extended his lead. Meanwhile, Javi Martínez further extended his own Bundesliga record. The Spaniard has been a permanent champion since 2013, his first season with Bayern (seven times in a row). No other player has ever won the championship in Germany over so many seasons.
The 2019 title will also take up a special place in the memories of Alphonso Davies, Ron-Thorben Hoffmann, Leon Goretzka and Serge Gnabry, as it's their first championship win. The same applies to Niko Kovac. Though he experienced this feeling as a Bayern player in 2003, as a coach it's also a first for him. The 47-year-old is the 7th Bundesliga coach to win the Meisterschale both as a player and coach (previously achieved by Helmut Benthaus, Jupp Heynckes, Franz Beckenbauer, Matthias Sammer, Thomas Schaaf and Felix Magath).
The Bayern players' German championship wins at a glance
Franck Ribéry (9 German championship wins), Arjen Robben (8), Thomas Müller (8), David Alaba (8), Manuel Neuer (7), Javi Martínez (7), Robert Lewandowski (7), Rafinha (7), Jérôme Boateng (7), Mats Hummels (6), Thiago (6), Sven Ulreich (4), Kingsley Coman (4), Joshua Kimmich (4), Niklas Süle (2), James Rodríguez (2), Corentin Tolisso (2), Renato Sanches (2), Christian Früchtl (2), Leon Goretzka (1), Serge Gnabry (1), Alphonso Davies (1), Ron-Thorben Hoffmann (1)
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