Stories of the faithful: the little big man Philipp Lahm is a Bayern Munich icon

If we were to think of players who were true heartthrobs, Philipp Lahm should certainly not be missing from the selection. The small defender was not only characterised by his tenacity, which he had to exercise due to his height, but also his loyalty to Bayern Munich.

Tales of the Loyalists is a series by Ruik that follows players who have dedicated all or the vast majority of their careers to one club. In today’s edition, we take a look at Bayern Munich defender Philipp Lahm.

He’s been with Munich since he was a kid

Philipp Lahm was born in Munich, where he also started playing football at a young age. In his early days he played for Gern Munich, from where he moved to the more famous Bayern at the age of twelve.

Here, too, the German midfielder spent his entire career except for two seasons as a guest at Stuttgart. At Bayern, however, he worked his way up from reserve to captain of the main team.

Lahm was typical of his very small stature. Although he was only 1.70 metres tall, this was not a handicap in his case. He balanced everything with his agility and tenacity, which earned him the title of one of the best defenders in the world.

His duels with Jan Koller, for example, who is over two metres tall, were amusing. However, Lahm didn’t give up on these fights either and went head to head.

14 seasons of success

He played a total of 332 matches for Bayern Munich. He is an eight-time German title winner and has won the German Cup seven times. But he has also been successful on the European stage.

The most successful season was 2012/2013. Then Bayern had a very strong team, which was confirmed by winning the treble. In addition to the domestic league and cup titles, he also went on to win the Champions League overall.

In the final at Wembley, with Lahm in the starting line-up, they beat Borussia Dortmund to dominate European football. Bayern then confirmed this triumph by winning the Super Cup.

He was also successful on the national stage. Although he does not have a European title in his collection, he did lift the trophy for winning the World Cup in 2014. In total, he has 113 national team matches.

Lahm retired in 2017 at the age of 33. He left a big mark on football history. Fans loved him for his performances as well as his humble demeanor. He is still considered a club legend at Bayern.

Source: Livesport