As David Alaba, Jerome Boateng and Javi Martinez prepare to call time on their glittering careers with Bayern Munich, German journalists pay tribute to three footballing giants who have contributed to one of the most successful eras in the club’s history.
The times when they arrived in the team
On the Bayern books since 2008, 2011 and 2012 respectively, Alaba, Boateng and Martinez are among the five players to have won the treble twice with the Bavarian giants, alongside Thomas Müller and Manuel Neuer.
Three of the club’s longest-serving lieutenants, they will be leaving on a high note after helping to secure yet another Bundesliga title in 2021.
Special note to David Alaba
Alaba has been an integral part of the Bayern setup for so long that it’s hard to believe he is still only 28. The Austria defender arrived at the club almost 13 years ago, just after his 16th birthday, describing himself as “a little rascal” who “never gave up believing in his big dreams”. Although even he probably couldn’t have predicted how far those dreams would take him.
He now shares the all-time record of 10 Bundesliga titles with Müller, the first coming in 2009/10 – although it wasn’t really until 2011/12, following a successful loan spell with Hoffenheim, that he became a first-team regular for Bayern. Neuer and Boateng had arrived that summer, with Jupp Heynckes taking over from Louis van Gaal as head coach.
Alaba made 47 appearances in all competitions, although around 20 were as a substitute, and Heynckes seemed unsure of the Austrian’s best position. He deployed him as a central midfielder, wide midfielder and left-back in a campaign which saw Bayern miss out on silverware across the board: second behind Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, beaten finalists in the DFB Cup (Dortmund again), and worst of all, beaten finalists in the UEFA Champions League, after a heart-breaking loss to Chelsea on home soil at the Allianz Arena.