Top 5 Bundesliga Players in the 21st Century
The Bundesliga has been dominated by Bayern Munich in recent times. But in the meantime, we have also seen Borussia Dortmund grow to be one of the elite teams in the top five leagues.
The initial years of the UEFA Champions League in the 21st century saw Bundesliga sides Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen featuring in the finals consecutively. When Bayern Munich won the 2001 Champions League title, Leverkusen ended up as the runners-up the following year.
Unlike the other leagues in Europe's top-five leagues, the Bundesliga features a total of eighteen teams and not twenty.
The top-flight in Germany have a majority of their influential players playing for either Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund. The league has seen some big arrivals along side club graduates. Without further ado:
Let's take a look Top five Bundesliga Players in the 21st Century.
#5 Manuel Neuer
Bayern Munich's goalkeeper has found himself in the limelight for quite some time now. While the world was busy finding the best between Juventus' Buffon and Real Madrid's Iker Casillas, Neuer beat them both to rise as the best goalkeeper in the world recently.
In 2013, Manuel Neuer beat Iker Casillas to grab a spot in the FIFPro World Men's XI. The Real Madrid star lost the spot to his competitors after featuring in the FIFPro team five times in a row (2008-2012).
The German national team and Bayern Munich's success saw Manuel Neuer be the recipient of numerous individual honors. He won the German national player of the year in 2020.
The 2014 World Cup Golden Glove winner came close to winning the Ballon d'Or the same year. However, he finished behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
#4 Marco Reus
Arguably, we can consider Marco Reus to be one of the most loved German/Bundesliga players of all time. While his slick hairstyle and charming face adds to his off-the-field popularity, his on-field heroics have made Reus popular in the realm of modern football.
The Dortmund captain is also the epitome of club loyalty. Performing at a consistent level within the league handed the Yellow and Blacks' forward an opportunity to join Bayern Munich and re-unite with his former companion Robert Lewandowski.
However, Reus turned down the offer and decided to play in the Dortmund outfit for the remainder of his career.
The three-time Bundesliga player of the season is also a regular Bundesliga team of the season inductee.