Gallery: David Alaba's career at Bayern in 27 photos
Danke, David!
Fri | 21/05/21 | 12:24
Alaba's career at Bayern in 27 photos
As he bids farewell, here are the best images of FC Bayern's double treble-winner and long-serving number 27, David Alaba.
Alaba as a 17-year-old with the Bayern reserves in August 2009.
Alaba and his patron Louis van Gaal, who brought the young Austrian into the first team.
Alaba’s Bundesliga debut came against Köln on 6 March 2010, replacing the injured Diego Contento.
Alaba made his debut in the Champions League against Fiorentina only three days after his Bundesliga bow.
Friends forever: Franck Ribery took the young Austrian under his wing from the start. The pair sat next to each other for many years in the changing room.
Alaba’s first season finished with the league and cup double. FCB lost the Champions League final 2-0 to Inter Milan.
After a six-month loan spell at Hoffenheim, Alaba returned to Munich for the 2011/12 season. He got his first senior goal for Bayern in the Bundesliga against Hannover on 23 October 2011.
Bayern lost the 2012 Champions League final at the Allianz Arena on penalties against Chelsea without the suspended Alaba. It was the year FCB finished second in all three competitions.
Alaba bagged the first brace of his Bundesliga career, which he celebrated with a dance together with Ribery, against Schalke on 9 February 2013.
As well as the Bundesliga and DFB Cup, Bayern also won the Champions League in 2013 for the first treble in the club’s history. Alaba made 38 competitive appearances over the season, scoring five goals.
Alaba & Co. became regulars on the balcony at Marienplatz down the years, lifting the Bundesliga title every season since 2012/13.
The Austrian would run up and down the left flank, earning a place in the hearts of all Bayern fans.
After winning the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea, Bayern then lifted the FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco to finish 2013 with five trophies.
Alaba created a special goal celebration with teammate Mario Götze.
Alaba’s athleticism could be seen with the way he plucked the ball out of the air with his left foot.
Alaba won three Bundesliga titles, two DFB Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup under Pep Guardiola.
Alaba was a dead-ball specialist with his rocket left foot, as shown here against Roma.
Alaba made 431 competitive appearances for the Bayern first team, scoring 33 goals and providing 54 assists.
Alaba would also give his all in training, like here in an arduous pre-season ahead of 2015/16.
Even world-class goalkeepers like Arsenal’s Petr Cech were often powerless against Alaba’s free-kicks.
Alaba claimed his fifth Bundesliga title in 2015/16 – he was only halfway done at this point.
Alaba lifted the DFB Cup a total of six times with Bayern.
Alaba was also at home with the microphone in hand. Here he blasted out a rendition of “Ham kummst” by Seiler and Speer with Thomas Müller after the 2016 cup win.
Coach Hansi Flick converted Alaba from a left-back into a centre-back, where he developed into one of the best central defenders in the world.
Alaba has taken on the best and won, as he did in the 2019/20 Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona and Lionel Messi, where Bayern claimed a momentous 8-2 victory.
Alaba replicated the success of 2013 with another Champions League crown and treble in 2020 alongside Jerome Boateng and Javi Martinez, who are also leaving Munich after the season.
Alaba is leaving Munich and Bayern at the end of the season after 13 years with the club.
