The greatest Bundesliga XI of all time
Every fan has one, and every one is wrong, including this one. Here is our all-time Bundesliga XI in a 4-3-3 — with the case for each pick, and the honest case against.
The rules we set ourselves
Only what a player did in the Bundesliga counts. That is harsher than it sounds: it excludes some of the greatest German players of all time on the grounds that their peak happened in Italy or Spain, and it rewards the one-club servants who stayed. It also means we are picking players at their Bundesliga best, not attempting to age them into one squad.
Goalkeeper — Oliver Kahn
For: A decade of being the single most intimidating presence in German football, and a goalkeeping performance at the 2002 World Cup so complete he became the only keeper ever to win the tournament's Golden Ball. Kahn did not just save shots; he visibly broke the will of the people taking them.
Against: Manuel Neuer. If you are picking a keeper for a team that dominates possession and defends a high line — which this team certainly would — Neuer is arguably the better fit, because he effectively plays as an eleventh outfielder. This is the closest call in the XI and we would not argue with anyone who swaps them.
Right-back — Philipp Lahm
For: The most intelligent footballer of his generation, and the rare full-back who never made a mistake you remember. Lahm was elite at right-back, elite at left-back, and then moved into central midfield in his thirties and was elite there too.
Against: Almost nothing. This is the least controversial pick on the list.
Centre-back / libero — Franz Beckenbauer
For: He invented the position we are picking him in. Beckenbauer's attacking libero turned defending into the first phase of an attack, won two Ballons d'Or, and anchored the Bayern side that won three straight European Cups.
Against: Only that "centre-back" undersells him. He is really this team's deepest playmaker, which is precisely why he works alongside a more orthodox partner.
Centre-back — Matthias Sammer
For: The last German to win the Ballon d'Or (1996), and the closest thing the league has produced to a second Beckenbauer — a sweeper who treated the halfway line as a suggestion. He dragged Dortmund to back-to-back titles and Germany to a European Championship.
Against: Jérôme Boateng at his 2013-16 peak was a more complete modern defender, and Sammer's career was short. But peak Sammer changed games in a way Boateng didn't.
Left-back — Paul Breitner
For: A left-back who scored in a World Cup final at 22, then reinvented himself as a midfielder and scored in another one at 30. Breitner had no fear of anyone, on or off the pitch.
Against: He spent much of his career in midfield, and his best Bundesliga years arguably came there. If you want a specialist, this is the weakest link — but a full-back this good on the ball unlocks the whole left side.
Midfield — Lothar Matthäus, Günter Netzer, Wolfgang Overath
Matthäus for: The only German ever named FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d'Or winner of 1990. He is the engine — a box-to-box midfielder who scored, tackled and ran for two decades, then finished his career as a libero because he could.
Netzer for: The most purely creative player the league has produced. Netzer's Gladbach were the romantic counterweight to Bayern's machine, and he conducted them with passes nobody else saw.
Overath for: Seventeen years at Köln and the elegant left foot of the German midfield across three World Cups. He provides the balance that lets Matthäus attack and Netzer daydream.
Against: Bastian Schweinsteiger has a genuine claim, and this midfield is light on the modern pressing game. Toni Kroos would organise it better. But for sheer ceiling, these three are hard to argue with.
Right wing — Arjen Robben
For: Everybody in the stadium, on the bench, and watching at home knew he was going to cut inside onto his left foot. It did not matter. He did it for a decade, and he scored the goal that won Bayern the 2013 Champions League.
Against: Injuries meant he was rarely available for a full season, and he is one-footed in a way that a modern coach would try to fix and then give up on.
Centre-forward — Gerd Müller
For: 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games. There is no argument. There is barely a conversation.
Against: Robert Lewandowski is the more complete footballer — better in the air, better with his back to goal, a better presser, and the man who finally beat Müller's 40-goal season with 41. If you are picking a striker to lead a modern system, take Lewandowski. If you are picking the one who will score the most goals, take Müller. We took the goals.
Left wing — Franck Ribéry
For: Balance, mischief, and the ability to make defenders fall over without appearing to try. Ribéry was the best player in Europe in 2013 and unlucky not to win the Ballon d'Or for it.
Against: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge won two Ballons d'Or, which is two more than Ribéry. But Rummenigge's best position overlaps with Müller's, and this XI needs width.
The XI
Kahn — Lahm, Beckenbauer, Sammer, Breitner — Matthäus, Overath, Netzer — Robben, Müller, Ribéry.
Unmanageable, defensively suspect, and it would probably score six every week. Notably, six of these eleven are in the game's Legends draw — which is roughly a one-in-twenty chance per spin, so assembling this side yourself is a project measured in lifetimes.
Who we left out, and it hurt
Manuel Neuer, Robert Lewandowski, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Michael Ballack, Sepp Maier, Berti Vogts, Jupp Heynckes, Allan Simonsen, Toni Kroos, Jérôme Boateng. Any of them walks into most all-time XIs from most leagues. That is the Bundesliga's depth, and it is why the eras you draft from matter so much.