Milestone for Thomas Müller

Thomas Müller made his 500th competitive appearance for FC Bayern on Saturday, the tenth Bayern player to reach this mark since the club's promotion to the Bundesliga in 1965. Unfortunately, the milestone match did not go according to plan, Bayern losing 5-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt. The native Bavarian is now equal with his former team-mate Bastian Schweinsteiger, who left the German record champions after his 500th competitive appearance in 2015.

"It's an incredible number of course," said the milestone man, who revealed he had not thought it possible to reach this mark at the beginning of his career: "To become an FC Bayern pro, make the breakthrough and go on to make 500 competitive appearances for my club, which I've followed all my life, even as a young child: it seemed utopian of course."

Müller's success story began in the summer of 2000, when he joined Bayern from his home club TSV Pähl at the tender age of 11. The crowd-pleaser made his pro debut in the Bundesliga match against Hamburger SV on 15 August 2008 and went on to win no fewer than 21 titles with FC Bayern. He won the historic treble in 2013 and has scored numerous crucial goals for the German record champions.

Müller made 100 apperances for the senior Germany squad, finished as World Cup top scorer in 2010 and won the World Cup in 2014. The Raumdeuter has made 107 Champions League appearances for Bayern, a club record. He boasts 43 goals in Europe's premier club competition, which means he is the most prolific German goalscorer in the competition.