500 GAMES TOGETHER !
Thomas Müller and Manuel Neuer : 500 games together with Bayern!
The Bundesliga match against Hoffenheim on 15 January became the 500th that Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller have played together for Bayern in all competitions.
They are the only pair of players to achieve this milestone while playing for the same club and continue to do so now.
They first played together on 1 August 2011 in a cup game vs Eintracht Braunschweig (3-0).
Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets played 569 games together for Barcelona, but they are now playing, as you know, for another club.
In total, there are 21 such partnerships in the history of football, with some players reaching the mark of 500 joint games with multiple mates (Messi in Barcelona with three).
The world record (571) belongs to a couple from Liverpool Ian Callaghan and Tommy Smith. It stands since 1978. Messi and Busquets missed just 2 games to reach this figure in Barcelona.
Only top-level matches are taken into account.
The match is counted for a pair if both players were on the pitch (not necessarily at the same time).
| MOST COMMON | GAMES | FOR | SAME | CLUB | |
| Partner 1 | Partner 2 | Games | Club | Period | |
| 1 | Ian Callaghan | Tommy Smith | 571 | Liverpool | 1963-78 |
| 2 | Sergio Busquets | Lionel Messi | 569 | Barcelona | 2008-21 |
| 3 | Ian Callaghan | Emlyn Hughes | 568 | Liverpool | 1967-78 |
| 4 | Gerd Müller | Sepp Maier | 564 | Bayern | 1965-79 |
| 5 | Norman Hunter | Paul Reaney | 559 | Leeds | 1962-76 |
| 6 | Billy Bremner | Norman Hunter | 554 | Leeds | 1962-76 |
| 7 | Steven Gerrard | Jamie Carragher | 552 | Liverpool | 1998-13 |
| 8 | Sepp Maier | Georg Schwarzenbeck | 545 | Bayern | 1966-79 |
| 9 | Sergio Busquets | Gerard Piqué | 533 | Barcelona | 2008-22 |
| 10 | Franz Beckenbauer | Sepp Maier | 531 | Bayern | 1965-77 |
| 11 | Billy Bremner | Paul Reaney | 525 | Leeds | 1962-76 |
| 12 | Frank Lampard | John Terry | 516 | Chelsea | 2001-14 |
| 13 | John Hollins | Ron Harris | 515 | Chelsea | 1964-75 |
| 14 | Ian Callaghan | Chris Lawler | 510 | Liverpool | 1963-75 |
| 15 | Paolo Maldini | Alessandro Costacurta | 510 | Milan | 1986-06 |
| 16 | Ryan Giggs | Paul Scholes | 510 | Man United | 1994-13 |
| 17 | Ray Clemence | Emlyn Hughes | 509 | Liverpool | 1969-79 |
| 18 | Lionel Messi | Gerard Piqué | 506 | Barcelona | 2008-21 |
| 19 | Lionel Messi | Andrés Iniesta | 502 | Barcelona | 2004-18 |
| 20 | Ron Harris | Peter Bonetti | 500 | Chelsea | 1962-79 |
| 21 | Thomas Müller | Manuel Neuer | 500 | Bayern | 2011- |