Bayern Munich's 2012/13 treble winners: Where are they now?
The 2012/13 season saw Jupp Heynckes' Bayern Munich become the first German team to win the treble of Bundesliga, DFB Cup and UEFA Champions League, writing their names into the history books.
It saw a return to Europe's summit after over a decade and heralded an era of unprecedented domestic success with eight straight league titles, but what has happened to the fabled class of 2013?
bundesliga.com looks at Bayern's average line-up from that historic campaign…
Manuel Neuer (Goalkeeper)
Neuer had joined Bayern in 2011 on the back of a DFB Cup triumph with Schalke, but he had to tolerate a year of pain before finally getting his hands on silverware again. The Munich side had suffered the anguish of finishing as runner-up in all three competitions in 2012 before setting the record straight, with the Germany number one keeping 26 clean sheets in his 49 appearances across all competitions, including not conceding at all in the Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals against Juventus then Barcelona.
Watch: Manuel Neuer - the best in the business
While Neuer & Co. have failed to get beyond the last four in Europe since that season, he has lifted the Bundesliga Meisterschale in every year hence, including as club captain in the last three. On top of that, there are a further three DFB Cups and, of course, the 2014 FIFA World Cup with Germany where he won the Golden Glove. At 34, the four-time World's Best Goalkeeper is still the firm first choice for club and country and is regarded as one of the best of all time in his position.
Philipp Lahm (Right-back)
As captain, it was Lahm who had the honour of lifting all three trophies in 2013, almost 11 years after first featuring for his hometown club, making 46 appearances across those competitions. He would also lift the World Cup 12 months later in Rio de Janeiro. Described by Heynckes' successor Pep Guardiola as "one of the most fantastic players I've ever trained and one of the most intelligent," Lahm would enjoy a spell in central midfield under the former Barcelona boss. He also enjoyed a remarkable run of not committing a single foul in the Bundesliga for over a year.
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In 2017, at the age of just 33, the Munich native called time on an illustrious career that included eight Bundesliga titles, six DFB Cups and not a single red card. He was subsequently inducted into the Bayern Hall of Fame, entered into a number of business ventures and was put in charge of the organisation committee for UEFA Euro 2024 to be held in Germany.
Jerome Boateng (Centre-back)
Like Neuer, Boateng had joined the previous season and suffered the triple pain that year. At 24, the former Hertha Berlin, Hamburg and Manchester City defender was maturing into one of the best centre-backs in the world, demonstrating a particular ability for defence-splitting long balls. The Berliner made 40 appearances in 2012/13 as Bayern conceded just 33 goals from over 50 matches, and he has now gone on to feature over 300 times in red as one of five players from the treble-winning team still at the club.
Injuries and, more recently, stiff competition have limited Boateng to a maximum of 27 Bundesliga games a season and never more than 20 in the last five years, but the 2014 World Cup winner has proven himself a reliable servant at Bayern, including this term where he has benefited from injuries to others to re-establish himself at centre-back under Hansi Flick with a year remaining on his contract.
Dante (Centre-back)
Dante Bonfim Costa Santos, to give him his full name, arrived at the Allianz Arena at the start of the season from Bundesliga rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach. Coach Heynckes quickly confirmed that he was the club's first-choice defender, forming a partnership alongside Boateng, as Bayern broke the Bundesliga records for clean sheets and fewest goals conceded. Despite conceding the penalty that Borussia Dortmund scored in the final because of a high boot on Marco Reus, the centre-back proved a fan favourite and wigs imitating his famous afro were often seen around the stadium.
Prior to his third and final season in Munich, Dante featured in Brazil's squad for their home World Cup. He played just once, in the tournament's most infamous game, as a Germany side featuring six of his Bayern teammates thrashed the hosts 7-1 in the semi-final. The following summer, he left for Wolfsburg, staying just a year before a move to Nice in France, where he still plies his trade at the age of 36.
David Alaba (Left-back)
It's remarkable to think that Alaba was already a first-team regular for Bayern prior to winning the treble, weeks before his 21st birthday. A fatigue fracture meant he missed 12 games in the early part of the campaign but the Austria international recovered to play every minute of the knockout stages of the Champions League, scoring against Juventus and getting an assist in both legs of the semi-final demolition of Barcelona.
Still only 27, the silverware has continued to accumulate on the Alaba family mantlepiece after over 370 appearances for Bayern. In that time, the left-footed academy product has proven himself a versatile weapon. While the vast majority of games have been at left-back, he has also been deployed on the wing, in central midfield and, more regularly, at centre-back. That includes the current 2019/20 campaign where Flick has made him first choice in the middle because of injuries at the back.
Javi Martinez (Defensive midfielder)
He may have joined after Bayern's disappointing 2011/12 campaign, but Martinez arrived in Munich with his own heartbreak after losing the Copa del Rey and UEFA Europa League finals with Marcelo Bielsa's Athletic Bilbao the previous season. The defensive midfielder, too, made up for that as he immediately settled into Heynckes' all-conquering team, featuring over 40 times.
The 2010 World Cup winner has gone on to play over 230 games for Bayern, mostly in holding midfield or at centre-back depending on the needs of the team or coach. The total would likely be much higher if not for injuries. The Spaniard, though, did become the fastest player in Bundesliga history to reach 100 victories, doing so in 120 games to usurp Arjen Robben's record of 126. Of his 142 league appearances in Germany, he's lost just 12.
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Defensive midfielder)
Known in Munich as Fußballgott (football god), local boy Schweinsteiger made his senior debut a year after Bayern's previous Champions League title in 2001. The midfielder was with the club every step of the way as they maintained their decade-long ambition of being crowned kings of Europe again. Having hit the post in the previous year's penalty shootout loss to Chelsea in the final at the Allianz Arena, a heavy weight was lifted from his shoulders with the victory over Dortmund at Wembley 12 months later and the subsequent DFB Cup final win over VfB Stuttgart to round off the treble.
Watch: Bastian Schweinsteiger - Made in the Bundesliga!
Schweinsteiger was another Bayern player who won the World Cup in Brazil the following summer. He would eventually leave his home in 2015 after exactly 500 first-team appearances that yielded eight Bundesliga titles and a competition record seven DFB Cups as he joined Manchester United under former coach Louis van Gaal, who had originally converted him from a winger to central midfielder in Bavaria. He departed England with an FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League winner's medal to begin a new challenge in Major League Soccer with Chicago Fire. Schweinsteiger helped them to the MLS Playoffs in his first season and, after nearly 100 games in the USA, announced his retirement in October 2019.
Thomas Müller (Attacking midfielder/Raumdeuter)
The man, the myth, Müller is almost as big a part of the Bayern furniture as the Allianz Arena itself. With the club since the age of 11, the forward has helped define an era of remarkable success with his inimitable style of play. The Raumdeuter provided 23 goals and 17 assists from 47 games in 2012/13, proving particularly brilliant in Europe with eight goals, including three as Bayern thrashed Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate in the semi-final.
The equine-loving forward who enjoys nothing more than horsing around needs an entire stable to accommodate the herd of trophies he's accumulated from well over 500 games with Bayern and exactly 100 with Germany. On the surface, Müller is far from a thoroughbred but there's no need for a photo finish when looking at his results, which simply don't lie as he approaches a double century for goals and assists – not combined, 200 of each! – for his club. Not to mention his Gold and Silver Boots from the 2010 and 2014 World Cups respectively. With a new contract signed until 2023, there's still plenty of time for the 30-year-old to add to his legacy.
Toni Kroos (Attacking midfielder)
One of the most accomplished talents to come out of Säbener Straße, Kroos was a well-established part of the Bayern first-team in the 2012/13 having shone on loan at Bayer Leverkusen three seasons earlier. His nine goals and 12 assists in that campaign at the BayArena impressed parent club Bayern, and he was back in time to be another of this team that endured the heartbreak of the previous season's Champions League final defeat to Chelsea. At 23, Kroos was yet to bcome the deep-lying playmaker of today, lining up in the final third for much of the 2012/13 campaign before missing the business end of the season - including the semi-finals and final - due to a muscle injury.
The Germany star played only one more season for Bayern in 2013/14 under Guardiola. After helping his country win the World Cup that summer - Kroos scored twice in the famous win over Brazil in the semi-finals - the only East German from that squad moved to Real Madrid. There he has continued to build his pedigree as one of his country's greatest ever midfielders, playing a crucial part in Real's trio of Champions League wins as well as reaching 96 appearances of his country at the age of 30.
Franck Ribery (Winger)
The record Bundesliga title winner with nine league medals to his name, Ribery is, without question, one of the greatest Bundesliga players of all time. That also puts him high on the list of Bayern's all-time greats, and 2012/13 is regarded as one of his very best seasons for the club. The Frenchman scored 11 goals and added 23 assists in his 43 appearances across all competitions and in one of the closest votes in recent history, finished third behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the 2013 Ballon d'Or award, with just three per cent of the vote separating the trio.
Watch: Ribery at Bayern - 12 years, 12 goals
Ribery was not deterred, though, and added title after title to his mantlepiece in the years after 2013. In fact, Ribery totals 24 trophies for Bayern across his 12 seasons with the club up to 2018/19, when both he and partner-in-crime Robben departed the club after each scoring on the final day of the season against Eintracht Frankfurt to clinch the Bundesliga title, just two points ahead of Dortmund. The 37-year-old joined Fiorentina in Italy in the summer of 2019 and has made 11 appearances in Serie A.
Mario Mandzukic (Striker)
Mandzukic certainly picked the perfect time to play his only two seasons for Bayern. His first, after joining from Wolfsburg in the summer, was the treble-winning season in which he played a starring role with 21 goals in 39 appearances in the league, Champions League and DFB Cup. His most important coming when he opened the scoring in the final at Wembley to put Bayern ahead on the hour mark. He followed that up the following season with 18 league goals in 30 appearances to celebrate his second Bundesliga title and holds an impressive record of 48 goals in 88 appearances for Bayern.
The Croatia international departed the club for Atletico Madrid at the end of the 2013/14 season where he stayed for just a single campaign before heading to Italy and Juventus where he has celebrated four league titles and three Italian cup wins. In January 2020, Mandzukic left Italy to join Al Duhali of the Qatar Stars League.
Substitutes
Tom Starke (Goalkeeper)
After joining Bayern from Hoffenheim at the start of the 2012/13 season, Starke had no idea that he would become a cult hero of the club. The German goalkeeper made just 10 appearances across his six years at Bayern, but collected 14 winners medals including the trio collected in the treble of 2013. He made four appearances in the 2012/13 campaign and did not concede a single goal. Starke, now 39, is still at Bayern as the goalkeeping coach for the U19 side.
Holger Badstuber (Centre-back)
There are many players across football who have had their blossoming careers blighted by injury, but perhaps none more so than Holger Badstuber. The defender made 17 appearances for Bayern in the 2012/13 season but this campaign saw him suffer perhaps his most damaging setback, a ruptured cruciate ligament from which he never truly recovered. Although he failed to break back into the Bayern first-team, Badstuber, at 31, is now playing consistently for VfB Stuttgart in Bundesliga 2.
Daniel van Buyten (Centre-back)
'Big Dan' van Buyten made 239 appearances for Bayern in his time with the club, winning 15 titles along the way. His most productive years at the Allianz Arena came before the treble-winning season, although he did play a vital role in the Champions League triumph, playing all 90 minutes in the semi-final tie at the Camp Nou, helping his side to a clean sheet, before retiring from football in the summer of 2014. Most recently, van Buyten was the Executive Assistant at Standard Liege between 2015 and 2017.
Luiz Gustavo (Defensive midfielder)
Gustavo came into the Bundesliga limelight as part of Hoffenheim's title-chasing team in the club's debut season in 2007. His performances earned him a move to Bayern where he stayed for three seasons. The Brazil international made exactly 100 appearances for the club - including 10 in the Champions League-winning campaign - before moving on to Wolfsburg, where he would win a DFB Cup, and then Marseille and now Fenerbahce where he is currently playing at the age of 32.
Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (Defensive midfielder)
A back-up in defensive midfield, Ukrainian midfielder Tymoshchuk was a reliable reinforcement for Bayern during his four seasons win the club, never making more than 26 Bundesliga appearances in a season but always playing his part when called upon. The veteran left the Allianz for Zenit St. Petersburg at the end of the treble-winning season before retiring from football in 2017 having played for Kairat Almaty. Since his retirement, Tymoshchuk has become the assistant coach at Zenit.
Xherdan Shaqiri (Attacking midfielder)
One of the young guns of the Bayern squad, Shaqiri was just 20 when he joined the Bavarian giants from Basel in the summer of 2012 and began life in Munich in style, scoring eight and providing 13 assists across 39 appearances in the treble-winning season. The Switzerland international was never able to knock Robben and Ribery off their perch, though, and was loaned to Inter Milan in 2015 before moving to Stoke City in the English Premier League. Now at Liverpool, Shaqiri celebrated his second Champions League title in 2018/19 with the Reds.
Arjen Robben (Attacking midfielder)
Truly one of Bayern's greatest ever players and dubbed 'Mr Wembley' for his winning goal in the dying minutes of the final against Dortmund back in 2013. Robben was a first choice for the champions when fit but injuries curtailed most of his 2012/13 season as he could only make 30 appearances across all competitions. The flying Dutchman made those count, though, scoring in both semi-finals of the Champions League as well as the final strike in the competition's showpiece. After 10 title-laden seasons in Munich and over 300 outings for the club, Robben retired from football at the end of 2018/19 but has hinted that he still gets the pang to return at 36 years old.
Watch: Robbery's fitting farewell
Mario Gomez (Striker)
With 113 goals in just 174 appearances for Bayern, Gomez is one of the most clinical scorers in the club's history. His final season with the club was the treble-winning campaign which also saw him find the net 11 times in only 21 outings in the Bundesliga. From Bayern, Gomez moved to Italy and Fiorentina for two seasons before joining Besiktas in Turkey. Since 2016/17, the 78-time German international has been back in his home country - firstly helping Wolfsburg to avoid relegation before joining hometown club Stuttgart for his second spell midway through 2017/18. At 34, Gomez is trying to help his boyhood side return to the top-flight before he calls time on his career.
Claudio Pizarro (Striker)
Robert Lewandowski is the only non-German player to have scored more goals in the Bundesliga than Pizarro, and that record was only broken this season. The Peruvian scored four goals in six appearances in the 2013 Champions League-winning campaign during the first season of his second spell with the club having re-signed from Werder Bremen. Pizarro stayed with Bayern for two more years before rejoining Bremen, where he remains now at the age of 41. Overall, the forward has 197 goals in 487 Bundesliga appearances - sitting sixth in the all-time top scorer's list.
Watch: Claudio Pizarro's Bundesliga Mixtape
Coach
The word legend gets thrown around in football, but it belongs without argument alongside Heynckes', epecially after he cemented his place in the German football Hall of Fame by leading Bayern to that treble in 2013. The Mönchengladbach born player then coach has been involved in more Bundesliga games across his career than any other individual (369 as a player, 669 as a coach). An eight-time Bundesliga champion and two-time DFB Cup winner, his greatest moment was still, undoubtedly, taking Bayern where no German team had ever gone before.
The now-74-year-old Heynckes left Bayern at the end of the 2012/13 campaign, replaced by Guardiola, to go into retirement on top of the world. He was, however, called upon by the champions once again in October 2017 to manage the club for one final season after a shaky start to the 2017/18 campaign under Carlo Ancelotti. Heynckes led Bayern to the Bundesliga title, the Champions League semi-finals and the DFB Cup final where they suffered an upset loss to Eintracht Frankfurt.
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