G
erdMuller wasaone-off.
Hewas Germany’s greatest
goalscorerandoneofthe
legendsthateffectively
createdthemodernBayernMunich.
Karl-HeinzRummenigge,one-time
team-matethenlater friendand
CEO,describedhimas:“aspecialist
goalscorerwhoseroledoesnot
evenexistintoday’s football.”
Muller’sdeathat 7 5 hadbeen
reluctantlyandsorrowfullyawaited
eversinceOctober 2015 whenBayern
confirmedhewassufferingfrom
Alzheimer’sdisease.InfactMuller
hadbeendiagnosedinitiallyin 2011
andwas livingouthislastmemory-
numbedyearsinanursinghome.
TherateatwhichMullerscoredgoals
wastrulymind-boggling, andsome
ofhisrecordswillstandfor years.
Between 1964 and 1979 , Muller
scored 566 goalsin 607 matches
forBayern,including 365 in 427
Bundesligaappearances.Together
clubandstarstriker celebrated 13
nationalandinternationalclubtrophies,
andMulleralsosharedinWest
Germany’s triumphantEuropean
ChampionshipandWorldCup
doublein 1972 and 1 974.
Hisrecordof 4 0 goalsina
Bundesligaseason–scoredin197 1- 72 – stoodfor 49 yearsbefore
itwas brokenby Robert Lewandowski
inMay.Heheldtherecordforthe
mostgoalsinacalendar year, with
85 in 1972 , untilLionelMessi
surpassedhimin 2012.
Nobodyhasscoredmoregoalsin
theBundesliga(365)or GermanCup
(78).NoGermanhas moreinUEFA
clubcompetitions(62),whileonlyeight
othershavescoredmore;allofthem
havingplayedatleast 40 moregames
thanMuller. Hisaverageof0. 87 goals
pergameisbetter thanbothLionel
Messi(0.8)andCristianoRonaldo
(0. 7 4)atthetopofthepile.
Until 2 01 4,Mullerwasalsothe
nationalteam’s recordmarksmanwith
68 goalsinanincredible 62 caps.Itis
arecordthatisevenmoreimpressive
withfriendlymatchestakenout,with
39 goalsin 31 competitivegames.
MiroslavKlose,whoovertookMuller,
neededalmostthreetimesasmany
games(1 71 ) toreach 71. Klosewas
thefirsttoacknowledgehisadmiration
forMuller andthechasmbetween
theirgoal-grabbingratios.
Muller’slastformalpublic
appearancewasagalainhishonour
inHamburgin 2013 .Theaddresswas
deliveredbyFranzBeckenbauer, his
room-mateduringtheirtimetogetherSPECIAL
FEATUREofGermanyandBayernMunich’sgoalscoringlegend,GerdMuller