Muller: Bayern Munich win to eat ice cream in peace, not to bask in glory

Bayern Munich star Thomas Müller has told The Players' Tribune the desire to "go out on a Sunday and eat an ice cream somewhere without worrying about anything else" is what drives the Bundesliga champions' relentless winning machine.

Müller and Co. are aiming to claim the German top-flight title for the seventh successive season and build on a silverware-laden legacy that has the Bavarian giants well ahead of their domestic rivals in terms of trophies won.

Bayern have collected a massive 27 Meisterschalen with Borussia Mönchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund the next most-successful sides in Bundesliga history with five.

Bayern, however, show no sign of lettting up, and Müller explained — just as he told teammate Joshua Kimmich when he arrived at the Allianz Arena from Stuttgart in 2015 — that victory is a means, not an end.

'Peace and quiet'

"There's a great anecdote with Joshua Kimmich. When he came to Bayern, we were winning every third game by a four-goal margin. He came into the dressing room, and everyone was having a shower or packing their stuff. We had just won 5-0, he thought there would be a big party. But that just doesn't happen, you just move on," the Germany international said in a discussion with club and country teammate Mats Hummels.

"I told him that at Bayern you don't win games to enjoy the victory, but to have some peace and quiet, so that you can go out on a Sunday and eat an ice cream somewhere without worrying about anything else."

Bavarian born and bred, Müller — now 28 — has been through a host of the club's successes, first as a Bayern fan and now as a player.

But the businesslike manner in which Bayern dispense with their rivals and the constant craving for still more success in the dressing room means he got more happiness as a fan, while as a player, it's a case of 'Keep calm and carry on winning.'

"The Champions League win in 2013 was great, but the Champions League victory of 2001 was much, much bigger for me, 100 per cent. Of course everyone went crazy.

"For us players, it's what we work for and we experience it in a totally different way, because we are just doing our jobs. When you reach a final, the aim is to win it. As a fan, it's your hope, and the explosion [of joy] is much bigger. I was younger, but the generation of [Bastian] Schweinsteiger and [Philipp] Lahm couldn't win anything. With this trophy [in 2013], we earned ourselves a little bit of peace and quiet."

Though a new coach has arrived at the Allianz Arena in the shape of Niko Kovac, normal business has been swiftly and ruthlessly resumed with an emphatic DFL Supercup win over Kovac's former club, Eintracht Frankfurt, followed by back-to-back Bundesliga victories against Hoffenheim and Stuttgart.

One of three teams on maximum points along with Wolfsburg and Hertha, Bayern already have daylight between themselves and perennial challengers Dortmund and Hoffenheim, third last season. Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke, fifth and second in 2017/18, are yet to get off the mark.

'Dominate again'

Even before the season began, Bayern were odds-on favourites to defend their crown, and Müller, who helped his team finish a gaping 21 points clear of the chasing pack last season, is as determined as ever to maintain the status quo.

"We want to keep going forward and dominate the league again. We have the potential for that, that's clear. We're not Bundesliga fans, we're players, and so we must try to make sure there is as little excitement as possible," he explained to BILD.

"Our motivation is extremely high. We have a super squad, when you look at which top players have to stay at home and who is sitting on the bench."