Bayern Munich beat Dortmund to win German Supercup again after tributes paid to late Gerd Muller

Bayern Munich paid heartfelt tribute to the late Gerd Muller ahead of Tuesday night’s DFL-Supercup clash with Borussia Dortmund.

The death of Bayern and Germany legend Muller - regarded as one of the best footballers and arguably the greatest striker of all-time - at the age of 75 was confirmed on Sunday morning. He had been battling Alzheimer’s Disease since 2015.

‘The Muhammad Ali of the penalty box’ netted 68 goals in 62 international appearances for West Germany and scored the winning goal in the 1974 World Cup Final against Johan Cruyff’s Netherlands.

Muller also won the European Championship in 1972 and is third on the list of all-time top World Cup goalscorers, having been surpassed by Brazilian Ronaldo and compatriot Miroslav Klose.

At club level, he spent 15 hugely successful years at Bayern between 1964-1979, scoring 566 goals in 607 appearances including 365 in the Bundesliga, which he won four times to go along with three European Cup triumphs.

Muller remains comfortably the top scorer in Bundesliga history and his record for the most goals in a single season (40) set in 1971/72 was only broken by Robert Lewandowski last term.

Reigning German champions Bayern - who drew 1-1 with Borussia Monchengladbach in their 2021/22 season opener on Friday night - played their first match since Muller’s passing on Tuesday as they faced rivals and DFB-Pokal holders Dortmund in the Supercup showpiece at Signal Iduna Park.

And the Bavarian giants paid tribute to the iconic Muller ahead of kick-off, with every player warming up in a jersey that displayed his name and famous no9.

Thomas Muller also held aloft a no9 shirt featuring the surname of his namesake as both sets of players and fans observed a poignant minute’s silence with Muller’s image emblazoned upon the electronic scoreboard.

Bayern went on to lift the Supercup for the fifth time in six years after a brace from Lewandowski sealed their sixth straight win over Dortmund in Der Klassiker.

After breaking the deadlock with a thumping header from Serge Gnabry’s cross shortly before half-time, the Poland captain’s second goal 16 minutes from time following Manuel Akanj’s blocked clearance settled the contest after Erling Haaland had seen an effort ruled out for offside and Marco Reus reduced the deficit with a curled strike from outside the box.

Thomas Muller had made it 2-0 to Bayern four minutes after the interval after being teed up by Alphonso Davies, while Manuel Neuer made several strong saves to deny the likes of Reus and Haaland, with Dortmund’s teenage star Youssoufa Moukoko also having a goal disallowed for offside.

The win represents the first of Julian Nagelsmann’s early tenure as Bayern coach.

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Gerd Muller dead: Germany and Bayern Munich legend passes away, aged 75