Incredible Freiburg captain: 134 consecutive starts. Yes, yes, in the main team

The series ends on Sunday. 

Freiburg defender Christian Günther is in the spotlight. He is about to break an incredible streak of 134 straight starts. Yes, Günther has not been out of the squad for almost four years, but on Sunday he will miss the game against Bayer due to a bust of yellow cards.

The last time Gunther was not on the field was in February 2019, after the match against Schalke, in which he grabbed the red. Since then, the German has three full Bundesliga seasons just at the start.

How powerful is it? He’s even cooler than Inaki Williams

Trust me, it’s very powerful. Even the steely Inaki Williams, with 251 La Liga appearances in a row, has never been at the start of the entire season.

And Christian did it three times.

A unique achievement, although the German is modest. “I didn’t notice anything incredible about it,” Günther replies to SPOX. – What worries me is the result of the team. I will not hide the fact that I am pleased to realize my importance. This means that I am useful – and if this is true, then I am already happy.

I won’t be upset if the series is interrupted. Football is such that you never know what will happen to you next. Serious injuries may intervene. I don’t think the missed match will affect me in any way.”

Günther has been living in Freiburg for almost 17 years. Now there is not even a competitor for his position

Christian knows what he is talking about, he has a complete order with his character.

Gunther ended up in the Freiburg system in 2006. He never stood out from the rest, a couple of times he even almost flew out of the academy: the coaches did not see any special prospects, although they noted diligence and dedication. Gunther held on, and then the coach Christian Streich noticed the guy – and in 2012 he pulled him up from the second team to the main one.

After that, Christian’s career flourished: in 10 years he played more than 300 matches for the first team and even traveled with the German national team to Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, but did not play for a minute. Several times Gunther could go on promotion, but always stayed because of the special atmosphere of the club.

This is really very important. In 2015, his current wife Katrin fell ill with cancer of the lymph nodes – the club was constantly in touch and often let Christian go so that he could stay longer with his loved one. Now everything is fine with Katrin – in 2019 they got engaged, a year later their daughter Nele was born. “She loves Freiburg even more than I do,” says Günther with a smile.

Freiburg is so confident in Gunther that there are simply no other specialized left-backs in the team. Although they play on three fronts: the struggle for the Champions League zone in the Bundesliga, the cup quarter-finals with Bayern and the 1/8 finals of the Europa League.