PHILIPP LAHM is making his 500th appearance for Bayern Munich against Schalke.
Aside from a loan spell at Stuttgart at the age of 20, he has only played for the Bavaria giants.
And this landmark marks the latest chapter in a quite incredible career.
Keep up to date with ALL the Bayern Munich news, gossip and transfers on our club page
Born in Munich, Lahm is a lifelong Bayern fan — and even served as a ball boy at the old Olympiastadion.
He is comfortable on either flank and is considered one of the best full-backs of his generation.
With seven Bundesliga titles to his name, he needs just one more to equal the record held by Mehmet Scholl and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
And he also captained his hometown to Champions League victory in 2013 — as part of an incredible Treble in 2013.
While, away from club football, he even skippered his country to a first World Cup since the fall of the Berlin Wall unified Germany in 2014.
Lahm joined the Bayern junior team at the age of 11 and was noted for his versatility, a trait for which is still feted today.
A former youth coach, Hermann Hummels — father of current team-mate, Mats — said of him: “If Philipp Lahm will not make it in the Bundesliga, nobody will anymore.”
While, a later trainer, Hermann Gerland, who brought the likes of Schweinsteiger, Thomas Muller and David Alaba through the ranks, considers Lahm the most talented player he has ever coached.
Related Articles
Philipp Lahm's Bayern Munich stats
Appearances — 500
Goals — 16
Bundesliga (7) — 2005-06, 2007-08, 2009-10, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16
German Cup (6) — 2005-06, 2007-08, 2009-10, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2015-16
German League Cup — 2007
German Super Cup — 2010, 2012, 2016
Champions League — 2012-13
Uefa Super Cup — 2013
Fifa Club World Cup — 2013
Uefa Team of the Year — 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014
Lahm made his first team debut just two days after 19th birthday, but competition at full-back saw him loaned to Stuttgart.
However, while at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, he suffered a cruciate ligament injury which would hinder his early development.
Lahm played mainly at left-back during his early days, but often switched flanks and would later operate as a defensive midfielder, when Pep Guardiola arrived in the summer of 2013.
He won his first title in 2006 and was made captain by Louis van Gaal in 2011.
This latest landmark will put him level with Schweinsteiger in eighth place on Bayern’s all-time appearance list.
And, given the German giants’ current elite level, and still just 33, he could eventually overtake Oliver Kahn’s record of 632 appearances.
Off the field, Lahm is one of football’s nice guys.
He has frequently visited under-privileged children in South African townships before and after the 2010 World Cup — and is a campaigner against child abuse.
While, he was honoured in 2008, for his outstanding contribution against intolerance towards homophobia in sport.
Leave a comment