Bayern Munich have announced they will not be exercising their option to buy Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez, but that’s not to say the 27-year-old playmaker didn’t make a telling contribution to the record champions’ success in his two years on loan at the club.
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James scored seven goals and provided 11 assists to help Bayern to their sixth successive Bundesliga title in his debut season at the Allianz Arena. Injury interrupted his second campaign on the Bayern books, but he still managed to produce seven goals and four assists – despite making only 13 league starts for Niko Kovac’s 2018/19 Bundesliga and DFB Cup winners.
Big thanks to the whole club and the fans, who’ve always shown me fantastic support, said James, who made 43 Bundesliga appearances in the red of Bayern, as well as a further 24 in the UEFA Champions League and DFB Cup. I had two unforgettable years in Munich and always felt very happy here. I’ll take only the best memories with me and wish Bayern all the best for the future.
1) vs. Schalke, 19 September 2017
Two weeks after making his Bundesliga debut, James made his first full start – against Schalke. He doubled the scoring with a cute finish from Corentin Tolisso’s pass, before laying on the third goal for Arturo Vidal in the second half.
2) vs. Borussia Dortmund, 4 November 2017
Having scored his second Bundesliga goal a week earlier against RB Leipzig, James’ creative juices were in full flow in Der Klassiker in Dortmund. He dumbfounded the Dortmund defence with a quite brilliant pass for Arjen Robben to break the deadlock, and later instigated Bayern’s third with a trademark precision pass for David Alaba.
3) vs. Bayer Leverkusen, 12 January 2018
James started 2018 with a bang and possibly his finest goal in a Bayern shirt. With the Bavarians leading Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 heading into injury time, the former Monaco and Porto man added to his earlier assist for Franck Ribery by whipping a postage-stamp free-kick over the Leverkusen wall and beyond the despairing dive of Bernd Leno.
4) vs. Dortmund, 31 March 2018
There was just something about Der Klassiker that brought the best out of James in 2017/18. The Colombian orchestrated a 6-0 demolition of Bayern’s closest pursuers Dortmund, scoring one before setting up goals for Thomas Müller and Ribery. His work done after 65 minutes, James received a standing ovation for a stunning individual display.
5) vs. Mainz, 17 March 2019
The Bayern fans were on their feet a year later as James plundered his first hat-trick since his Porto days (2011) – this time against Mainz. He had already had a hand in six efforts on goal when he found the net with the first of three well-taken goals – his fifth, sixth and seventh of the 2018/19 campaign – and final strikes for Bayern.
