Just days after Franck Ribery extended his Bayern Munich stay, Arjen Robben has also put pen to paper on a new deal. Brazilian fullback Rafinha has also committed to another year with the Bundesliga champions.
Image: Reuters/M. Rehle
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On the eve of Bayern's final league game of the season, when they host Stuttgart and collect their latest trophy, the club announced that Dutch international Robben would stay on for a tenth season in Bavaria.
"We are very pleased to extend with these deserving players for another year because both Arjen Robben and Rafinha also play an important role in our plans for the coming season," said Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.
Robben, 34, recently surpassed Johan Cruyff as the Dutch player with the most league titles to his name, with Bayern's latest Bundesliga crown being his 11th league win. This season will mark his seventh domestic title with Bayern and he's also won titles in the English, Spanish and Dutch leagues, four German Cups, an FA Cup and a Champions League.
He arrived at the club from Real Madrid in 2009 and has scored 95 goals in his 189 Bundesliga games for Bayern.
Rafinha, 32, arrived at the club two years later from Italian side Genoa after spending five years at Schalke between 2005 and 2010. Despite rarely being first choice, his versatility and endurance have seen him appear 162 times in the league for Bayern.
Both players will have a chance to impress the man who'll coach them next season and add more silverware to their collections when they take on Niko Kovac's Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Cup final in Berlin on May 19.
The six moments that won Bayern Munich their sixth straight Bundesliga
After Bayern Munich recovered from a poor start, their sixth straight Bundesliga title has never really been in doubt. Among all the wins, comebacks, red cards and a dismissal have all proved decisive in 2017-18.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Thissen
Arrivederci Ancelotti, Hallo Heynckes
Arguably the most critical match of Bayern's latest title win came in the Champions League. The Bavarians lost 3-0 to Paris Saint-Germain, a humiliating defeat that lead to the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti. They had picked up 14 points in their first six league games, five points fewer than first-placed Borussia Dortmund. Jupp Heynckes would soon return for a fourth spell in the hot seat.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/L. Perenyi
Statement of superiority, part 1
By the beginning of November, Bayern were level on points with Borussia Dortmund and one ahead of Leipzig — runners up the previous year. This game at Allianz Arena had been hyped as a title clash, but the early dismissal of Willi Orban (third from right) ended that. James Rodriguez and Robert Lewandowski scored to put the champions back on top.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/A. Grimm
Statement of superiority, part 2
After a flying start, Dortmund's slide had begun, while Bayern's star was in the ascendancy. Still, a BVB win on matchday 11 would've put them within a point of their rivals. But Bayern were having none of it. Arjen Robben opened the scoring in a typically ruthless display that confirmed Bayern as overwhelming title favorites and continued the spiral that would lead to Peter Bosz's Dortmund exit.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Thissen
Top at Christmas
A 1-0 win over newly promoted Stuttgart is the sort of bread and butter win that Bayern manage to eke out better than anyone else. Thomas Müller (right) was the man that came up with a late goal this time round, with the matchday 17 win meaning Bayern took a mammoth 11 point lead in to the winter break.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Murat
New arrival seals impressive comeback
All looked rosy after the winter break but there were a few bumps in the road — particularly in the matchday 20 clash with Hoffenheim, where Bayern were two down in the first 12 minutes. True to form, the Bavarians showed their mettle to roar back to a 5-2 win sealed by January signing Sandro Wagner's first for the club.
Image: Imago/MIS
King James
Many speculated that James Rodriguez wouldn't work at Bayern, especially when Carlo Ancelotti was no longer head coach. But the Colombian has been one of the best players at the club this season and so it was fitting that his goal against Augsburg on Matchday 29 not only gave Bayern the lead, but also the club's sixth straight Bundesliga title.