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As jubilant as it was for Bayern Munich in their 5-2 win over FC Augsburg on the last day of the Bundesliga season that saw Robert Lewandowski broke Gerd Muller’s scoring record, it was also marked by emotional farewells for David Alaba, Jerome Boateng, and Javi Martinez. They will all be leaving the club this summer along with Tiago Dantas, Douglas Costa, and coaches Hermann Gerland and Miroslav Klose.
Alaba and Boateng started the match but were both ceremoniously subbed off and Javi Martinez came on midway through the second half. The warm embraces from the trio between their teammates and staff members on separate occasions throughout proceedings illustrated just how emotional it was and Boateng couldn’t hold back his tears when he took up his spot on Bayern’s bench after being taken off.
Current Liverpool and former Bayern midfielder Thiago Alcantara took to his Twitter page to send his best wishes to the trio of departing veterans just around 24 hours before Jurgen Klopp’s side sealed their Champions League qualification with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Anfield. Thiago was arguably one of Liverpool’s best performers in the win in front of a crowd of 10,000 spectators to end what was a much improved second half of the season after not having the best of starts on Merseyside after transferring from Bayern during the summer. He spent seven successful years at Bayern, the majority of which were alongside Alaba, Boateng, and Javi Martinez. He also used the “#Hansi” to thank Hansi Flick for his brief, yet incredibly successful tenure as Bayern manager.
Once a Bayern player, always a Bayern player:
Congrats and good luck, guys! @David_Alaba @JeromeBoateng @Javi8martinez #Hansi https://t.co/IvCnPa4dZ0
— Thiago Alcantara (@Thiago6) May 22, 2021
Alaba will leave Bayern for Real Madrid, but it is not entirely certain where both Boateng and Martinez will wind up. A handful of options for Boateng have been touted in recent weeks and is also is most likely that Javi will be returning to Spain to play for a La Liga club. Regardless, Thiago’s sentiment is matched by us, and the trio of veterans will surely be missed at FC Bayern - it is truly the end of an era.