Thomas Müller almost got to celebrate his magnificent milestone with a goal, but when the forward hurled himself to try and net a cross from teammate Mathys Tel in stoppage time of the clash with Manchester United, the post ultimately denied him. But the 34-year-old will be able to cope with this miss, because what mattered most was that at the end of his performance on Wednesday evening, the final score was 4-3 against the Red Devils – and it was Müller's 100th win in Europe's elite club competition, in just his 143rd match.
Only Ronaldo and Casillas beat Müller to it
The two-time Champions League winner has thus finally ascended to the highest echelons of this prestigious competition: The loyal Munich player is only the third player in the history of the competition to break the 100-win mark. Previously, only Cristiano Ronaldo (115 wins with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus) and Iker Casillas (101 with Real Madrid and FC Porto) achieved this. The phenomenon of Müller also makes him the first player to celebrate all his successes with a single club: the German record champions.
"Looking back, it's been a crazy long time that I’ve been able to spend here in the Champions League," said Müller, the record champions’ opening match marking his 16th season in the Champions League, equalling Zlatan Ibrahimović and Xavi in joint 12th place in the all-time ranking. But Müller wouldn't be Müller if he didn't have the final say on his milestone: "But I'm not done yet, and so it's just a staging post," the forward promised.
Alongside his teammates, Müller produced several impressive statistics on Wednesday evening:
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