5 takeaways from a record-breaking Matchday 7
Matchday 7 of the 2023/24 Bundesliga campaign was a memorable one, with Thomas Müller, Mats Hummels and Serhou Guirassy all clinching top-flight records. Here, bundesliga.com reflects on yet another incredible weekend of football in Germany.
5 takeaways from a record-breaking Matchday 7
Müller ties Neuer's win record
Müller made his fourth start of the season as Bayern defeated Freiburg 3-0 to move back into third in the Bundesliga table. A run of the mill victory for the 12-time Bundesliga champions in usual circumstances, but this one was more special than most. For the 322nd time in his German top-flight career, Müller was on the winning side, a feat only teammate Manuel Neuer has matched. This latest triumph came in his 448th game amongst the elite, meaning he has prevailed in a monstrous 71.9% of all his Bundesliga outings.
With Neuer unlikely to be ready to feature for Bayern against Mainz after the international break, another three-point haul could see Müller claim the record outright. He is already way out in front in terms of the most games won in the Bundesliga with one team - Neuer started out at Schalke before switching to the Allianz Arena. It is just the latest accolade for the 2014 FIFA World Cup winner to add to his never-ending C.V., and it could get longer before the end of the season - Müller trails Sepp Maier's all-time Bundesliga appearance record for Bayern by 25, and there are still 27 matches left this term.
Hummels sets BVB wins record
Müller will have most likely traded congratulatory messages with former club teammate Hummels, ahead of their international reunion with Germany next week after the Borussia Dortmund defender set his own wins record on Matchday 7. The victory over Union Berlin was Hummels’ 207th for BVB in the Bundesliga, taking him past Michael Zorc’s previous best for Die Schwarzgelben.
The hard-fought win was an excellent end to the week for Hummels after his recall to the national team, and the 34-year-old defender clearly hasn’t lost any of his appetite for success. “I’m one of those who criticises a lot when there is something to criticise,” said Hummels after his record-breaking exploits. “But that was good. And when the fans see that we want it and fight, then there’s an incredible exchange of energy here. It then turned into an excellent [second]-half.”
Watch: Mats Hummels - 16 seasons, 16 goals
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Guirassy > Lewandowski
Another man rewriting the history books this weekend was Stuttgart star Guirassy, whose hat-trick sent VfB top at the final whistle of their come-from-behind win over Wolfsburg. Not only that, but his treble also saw their striker better Robert Lewandowski’s record for the most goals across the first seven games of a Bundesliga season.
He now has 13 from seven appearances and two more than Lewandowski managed by Matchday 7 of both the 2019/20 and 2020/21 campaigns. Guirassy put it better than anyone else after the game, saying: “Thirteen goals in seven games – it’s unbelievable. I’m benefitting from my teammates, who keep setting me up well. It’s just a lot of fun to play for this team in front of these fans.”
Watch: Guirassy reacts to record-breaking hat-trick against Wolfsburg
Hofmann key for league-leaders Leverkusen
Another irresistible display from Die Werkself in the 3-0 Rhine derby victory over Cologne saw them return to the top of the table. The 19 points they have amassed in their opening seven games of the campaign is a club record, while they have never netted as many as this term's 23 goals at this point in a season. With each passing week, Leverkusen look more and more like serious title contenders, and the outright Bundesliga lead is the least they deserve so far considering the level of their displays.
While Victor Boniface and Florian Wirtz bask in the limelight, Jonas Hofmann continues to go about his business with the same irrepressible consistency we have become accustomed to over the past decade. The 31-year-old was again on the scoresheet against Effzeh, scoring in a third consecutive top-flight match for the first time in his Bundesliga career, while his assist for Boniface's strike in the same match means the Nigerian (7 goals, 1 assist) is the only player to been involved in more league goals for the club than Hofmann this term (4 goals, 3 assists). The former Borussia Mönchengladbach man was recently named in Julian Nagelsmann's first Germany squad for the friendlies versus the USA and Mexico and, despite being towards the end of his career, Hofmann looks as fresh as ever.
Riemann on the spot for Bochum
Bochum had avoided defeat just once in their nine meetings with RB Leipzig prior to this weekend, but they managed to do so again as they held Die Roten Bullen to a goalless draw on Saturday afternoon. However, had Manuel Riemann not been between the sticks, they would unlikely have picked up any points as the 35-year-old saved two penalties. First, he denied up-and-coming star Xavi Simons in the first half, before keeping out Emil Forsberg's effort from 12 yards after the interval.
To anyone who watches Bochum on a regular basis, his spot-kick heroics will not have come as too much of a surprise. The goalkeeper has faced 23 penalties in the top flight and has only been beaten on 12 occasions, meaning 47.8% of them have failed to find the back of the net. He is also the first Bochum shot-stopper to thwart two penalties in the same match and, having also kept out 17 spot-kicks from 47 in the second tier, he has developed into one of the most formidable specialists in Germany.
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