Muller surpasses Neuer for Bundesliga wins record as Bayern beat Mainz

Thomas Muller has overtaken Bayern Munich team-mate Manuel Neuer as the player with the most Bundesliga wins in history.

Muller won his 323rd game in Germany’s top flight as he helped Bayern beat Mainz 3-1 on Saturday.

That sets him clear of Neuer as the outright leader for Bundesliga victories.

Muller’s contribution at Mewa Arena was limited as he replaced Kingsley Coman as an 88th-minute substitute, but with fellow Bayern legend Neuer still sidelined by injury, that brief cameo saw Muller edge ahead of his team-mate to claim the record for himself.

Goals from Coman and Harry Kane put Bayern 2-0 up within 16 minutes before Anthony Caci pulled one back for the winless hosts, but Leon Goretzka’s second-half strike ensured Bayern ran out 3-1 winners.

The victory maintained Bayern’s unbeaten start to the Bundesliga season, though Thomas Tuchel’s men still trail surprise contenders Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart at the summit.

@esmuellert_ now holds the outright record for most Bundesliga wins

Our legend has been victorious in 323 of his 449 Bundesliga games #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/djOIPRb4bR

— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) October 21, 2023

Muller’s standout stats

Muller has played 449 Bundesliga matches, 127 more than any other Bayern player since he made his debut in August 2008.

The 34-year-old has created 884 chances for his team-mates in that time, with Franck Ribery (536) ranking a distant second for the Bavarian giants.

Of current Bayern players, Joshua Kimmich (505) is the closest to Muller, who has directly contributed to 306 Bundesliga goals, another team-high. Robert Lewandowski is second, with 273 goal contributions.

Lewandowski (238) is the only player to have scored more Bundesliga goals for Bayern than Muller (144) since the latter made his bow for the club, while the Germany international has provided 162 assists, almost 80 clear of second-best Ribery (85).

Muller has had 2,448 touches in the opposition box, over 500 more than any other Bayern team-mate since he made his Bundesliga debut, while he has also had the most duels (4,314), winning 1,904 of them.

His best goalscoring season came in 2015-16, when he netted 20 times in the Bundesliga and provided five assists.

However, it was in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons that Muller provided his most goal contributions in the Bundesliga, with 29 in each campaign.

Muller netted eight times in 2019-20, but supplied 21 assists. The following term, he teed up 18 goals and scored 11 himself.