The legendary pair will be hoping to sign off with one more Bundesliga title to add to their collection, with Bayern currently four points ahead of Borussia Dortmund going into the final two fixtures. And it's already been confirmed that Bayern will host a testimonial match for Robben and Ribery next year to highlight their incredible services. Chosen for You Chosen for You. Ribery: "Personally, the respect is the most important aspect of my career.
They are three great personalities. What they said was lovely. I also knew Mario here at Bayern. He used to sit next to me in the changing rooms.
We had some good moments together as well. How proud are you of that? Ribery: "There was a completely different style of play at Bayern before. They were still a great club with big names. When Arjen, myself and others arrived at the club, we brought more pace and dynamism; a different type of football. Of course, we're proud of what we've achieved. We shouldn't forget that when I first arrived in , Bayern were 4th or 5th in the league.
After I arrived, we were not in the Champions League. The next season, we achieved something as a team. That was nice.
After 12 years, it's amazing what we have achieved. Ribery: "We're both big players. We both have a lot of qualities and experience. We have both played for big clubs in our careers.
When I first came, I was happy to have a partner to assist me on the opposite wing. It was nice for me because the opponents never knew what we were about to do: attack down the left or attack down the right.
It was great! We can probably see the difference by looking at the statistics. He probably has more assists whereas I have more goals.
S hould any team be so blessed as to hold within their ranks a truly outstanding pair of players; a twosome for whom simply sharing a field with the other enhances of their own game beyond common comparison, often these players are found side-by-side in a most literal sense. In fact, to place one directly beside or behind the other would have been to shackle them, to rob them of the space and freedom they so adored exploiting.
Though his big move abroad would end abruptly, seeing him return to France after just six months and scarcely more than a handful of appearances, it would prove pivotal. Before joining his future friend in Germany, Robben first rose to the top of the Dutch game, with PSV Eindhoven, to whom he had earned a move after impressing out wide at boyhood club Groningen. Naturally, then, came the pursuit of further success further afield.
Transfers to Chelsea and Real Madrid afforded the daring Dutchman ample opportunity to see more of the continent of his birth, to juxtapose the diverse cultures belonging to the English and the Spanish, and, as would soon become the norm for the high-achieving attacker, to conquer their top divisions also.
Bested in the Bundesliga by Wolfsburg, and deservedly dumped out of both the German Cup and Champions League at the quarter-final stage, a trophyless Bayern returned to the drawing board. Read Cut in, shoot, repeat: why Arjen Robben is a worthy modern great. Still visibly sullen from having their Meisterschale stolen by the Wolves, successive season-starting draws with Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen left them licking their wounds.
The loss to newly promoted Mainz that followed rubbed salt into them. Then, on the eve of their fourth league fixture, Bayern announced the capture of their new principal Dutch attacker and with that, almost like magic, their fortunes underwent a quite dramatic upheaval.
It's a factor that has cost both players their positions at former clubs, and it's one that they've had to battle with in Munich. Yet when we take a look at the graphic below, which shows how many games each player has missed through injury over the past three seasons, we can see that both players seem to be getting over the worst of their delicate past:.
However, there is a clear disparity between Robben and Ribery's ability to keep fit after hitting 30 years of age. According to Transfermarkt , Ribery missed 33 games over the course of last season, while Robben did almost twice as well, having missed just 17 via Transfermarkt.
Similarly, we can also see that despite only being in February of this current season, Ribery has already missed twice as many games as Robben.
Just looking at the graph, we can see that the Dutchman's time injured seems to be naturally decreasing over time while Ribery's still seems erratic. From the data available, it would seem as though Robben has now become the more durable of the two and therefore offers more to this team at this moment in time.
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