Vincent Kompany lauded the influence of Thomas Muller after the Bayern Munich forward capped his record-breaking outing with a goal against Freiburg. (More Football News)
Muller made his 710th appearance across all competitions for Bayern, coming off the bench to overtake the record for the most outings for the club, set by goalkeeper Sepp Maier, who retired in 1979.
The Germany veteran marked the milestone in style, scoring to seal a 2-0 victory for Bayern after Harry Kane was also on target with a penalty on Sunday.
Muller made his Bayern debut back in 2008 when Kompany appeared in his final club appearance in Germany, before the Belgian boss left Hamburg to join Manchester City.
Their careers have now met once again, with Kompany moving to the touchline, and the Bayern head coach is delighted to have reunited with Muller in a bizarre twist of fate.
"Outstanding. I witnessed his first game. I was there with Hamburg on this pitch. 710 games later, it's unbelievable," Kompany said.
"He gave 100% in 710 games, but not only in the games, but also in training. That's what makes Thomas so special.
"There are a few more games that he can still play and we are definitely pleased that he's got a few more in his locker and the fact that he can keep going like this, it's so important for us."
Muller has now found the net in a joint-record 16 successive German top-flight seasons, matching Holger Fach, Mats Hummels, Bernd Nickel, Olaf Thon and Michael Zorc.
His 150th Bundesliga goal on Sunday, sweeping home from Serge Gnabry's cross, marked the perfect end to a special day for the 34-year-old.
As for Bayern overall, Kompany said his side's performance dipped after the break, but luckily he has players like Muller he can call upon when the need arises.
"Very positive first half, and then in the second half we were just one step later than Freiburg on second balls, and we lost a little bit of the momentum," he said.
"But then I have to say that we're very fortunate to have very good players that can come on and make the difference, and Thomas Muller came on, Kingsley Coman too, and the players from the bench were very important for us to win this game.
"Positives and things to learn and we also got to celebrate a fantastic moment for Thomas Muller and that was important as well for us today."
