“More joy than relief” — Bayern Munich’s Thomas Müller holds a new DFB-Pokal record

Bayern Munich endured two years of early exits in the German cup tournament, the DFB-Pokal. But with a 4-0 trouncing of Mainz on Wednesday, the Bavarians have returned to form — in time to elevate one of their own, Thomas Müller, into even further rarefied air.

There’s little the World Cup and Champions League-winning Müller hasn’t achieved in his illustrious career. Now he can add this DFB-Pokal record to his list: with 53 wins, he’s become the single winningest player in the competition’s history:

Bayern shook off their cup ills at just the right time, and will now look to get themselves back on track in the Bundesliga.

Müller had found himself on the outside looking in at the Bayern squad post-World Cup, but has proven to Julian Nagelsmann that he remains an asset — the flexibility in attack he offers alongside Jamal Musiala and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting helping put Mainz to the sword.

“Relief is the wrong word, it is rather joy,” Müller expressed after the game (via Az's Maximilian Koch). “We were able to show what the team is made of over long stretches. We played very variably, invested a lot.”

Interested in a more in-depth look at the match, including the formation/tactics deployed by Julian Nagelsmann, Joao Cancelo’s debut, and the amazing influence of Thomas Muller? Well, why not check out our postgame podcast? We talk about all that and more! Listen below or on Spotify.

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