Thomas Muller is the hero again, as he always is and always will be
Bayern Munich were trying to come back from two goals down at halftime in the second leg of a Champions League tie against one of the best teams in Europe. They had gotten one back against Juventus, but into stoppage time Bayern were still in search of an equalizer. And so, of course, they turned to a man who was the leading scorer for the 2014 World Cup champions and the leading scorer for the winners of the 2013 Champions League. A player who finished the 2010 World Cup with more goals than anyone else in the tournament and who, at the age of 26, already has nine major trophies to his name: Thomas Muller.
When Kingsley Coman got the ball wide in the 91st minute and lifted a cross toward the back post, of course, Thomas Muller was waiting. Of course, with seven Juventus defenders in the box, Muller had somehow escaped them all. Of course, the ball found him. And, of course, Muller nodded the ball home with ease.
It doesn't matter whether Muller is playing for club or country, whether it's the Champions League or the World Cup, whether he is a little known 20-year-old who Louis van Gaal decided couldn't go on loan as planned ... or an established global superstar. He is always there. In the big moment, Muller will score the goal his team needs, or set it up, or somehow make the key play that pushes his team closer to yet another trophy.
If you were to line up all of the best players in the world and asked a random person to pick out the best athlete on looks alone, Muller would never get picked. He wouldn't be the second, third or even 200th pick. But if you had to pick out the person who most looked like a dentist, you'd have your man.
Nobody looks less like an athlete than Muller. He's all limbs, devoid of grace or any one obvious elite skill. He's not exceedingly strong, fast and he doesn't have ball skills that mesmerize. Yet here he stands; one of the world's best players.
Where Muller does excel is finding space in the box, ghosting away from even the best defenders in the world. He's a clinical finisher and a tireless worker. He always seems to know where he needs to be. There's nothing on the pitch he can't do, even if he looks like he can't do anything.
In many of Germany's or Bayern's biggest moments over the last six years, chances are Muller will be involved, scoring, assisting or forcing the critical turnover. He will be the hero, even if no one calls him that.
Muller may not be otherworldly, as Lionel Messi is. He may not be flashy, like Neymar. He may not be ruthless, like Luis Suarez. And he may not be as prolific as Cristiano Ronaldo. Heck, he's not even the goal-scorer that teammate Robert Lewandowski is. But, as trite as meaningless as the word "clutch" can often seem, there is no better word to describe the man who looks so ordinary. The man who makes you believe that you, too, could be a professional soccer player. The man who somehow escapes most conversations of the world's best players.
Thomas Muller's five goals were the most of any German en route to the 2014 World Cup.
When your team is dead and buried. When your team is looking to conquer the world. When your team is looking to win the most prestigious competitions in the sport, there is one man who will always find the ball. Or maybe the ball finds him. But however it happens, the ball finds the back of the net. Every. Single. Time. Muller is that man.
There's no telling yet if Bayern's miracle win over Juventus will prove to be a spectacular step en route to another Champions League title. Barcelona are still the unquestioned favorites, and for good reason. But the 91st minute equalizer will go down in Bayern Munich and European lore, as so many other goals and performances in Muller's career have. And it may prove to be the defining moment of Bayern Munich's season, or even the Pep Guardiola era at Bayern because, of course, even Muller’s heroics feed the narrative of someone else and point the spotlight elsewhere.
