5 Amazing Franck Ribery Stats No One Talks About

As the second round of the 2014-15 Bundesliga campaign draws nearer, Bayern Munich fans will be eager to see the return of a fully fit Franck Ribery. The 2013 Ballon d'Or finalist missed much of the fall campaign injured, and despite playing very well at times, he never truly reached 100 percent fitness.

Since moving to Munich in 2007, the Frenchman has been a hugely important player for the Bavarians, arguably their most consistent and important attacking player. And even as he nears the age of 32, his return to full fitness will be a huge boost to Bayern's hopes of winning a treble this spring.

Ahead of Bayern's second-round opener against Wolfsburg on Friday, B/R takes a close look at the statistics that make Ribery a unique asset for his club. Click "Begin Slideshow" for our top five.

86.5 Percent: Best Win Percentage Among 2013 Ballon d'Or Finalists

Petr David Josek/Associated Press

The most quoted statistic ahead of the 2013 Ballon d'Or announcement was Cristiano Ronaldo's 66 goals. The Real Madrid forward's tally was more than 50 percent more than Lionel Messi's 42 and three times that of Ribery's 22.

However, Ribery was far and away the most successful player of the three finalists in terms of winning games. The Frenchman was on the winning side in 45 of his 52 games played in 2013, losing just three times and being a victor in 86.5 percent of his matches (per 101GreatGoals).

It's a truly incredible statistic, with Ronaldo losing twice as many games (six) and winning only 40 (71.4 percent) of his 56 matches. Messi was a distant third, with 26 victories in 45 appearances, leaving him with a winning percentage of 57.8.

Although not as prolific in front of goal, Ribery's all-round game was better in 2013, and he delivered when called upon. In fact, as a Bayern player he rarely hasn't. As of last February, Bayern had (per WhoScored?) won 71.1 percent of the 152 matches in which he started. Of the 71 he didn't start during his time in Munich, the Bavarians had won just 59.2 percent.

2.0: Trophies Per Season as a Bayern Player

Alexander Hassenstein/Associated Press

In seven full seasons at Bayern, Ribery has won title after title: four Bundesliga, four DFB-Pokal, two DFL-Superpokal, one DFB-Ligapokal, one Champions League, one UEFA Super Cup and one Club World Cup. In total, the Frenchman has won 14 trophies as a Bayern player, an average of two per season.

Bayern's record with Ribery has been especially impressive considering that between the Bundesliga's creation in 1963 and his move to the Allianz Arena, the German record champions had won 48 titles in 43 years, a rate of 1.12 per year. With Ribery in the squad, that rate has almost doubled.

Ultimately, football is about winning trophies, and transfers are made to improve teams in order to win silverware. Cristiano Ronaldo cost, on the order of €100 million, four times Ribery's price tag, yet he has won seven titles in five-and-a-half seasons. The impact Ribery has made in Munich is truly massive: What a buy he turned out to be.

1,084: Dribbles in 2013

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As he approaches his 32nd birthday, Ribery's propensity to attempt to dribble past defenders is starting to decline. But for several years before, the Frenchman was far and away the superlative man in Europe when it came to willingness to test defenders in one-on-one situations.

By the numbers, the gulf between Ribery and other attackers noted for their dribbling ability was, during the Bayern man's physical prime, massive. In 2013, Ribery attempted a whopping 1,084 dribbles (per 101 Great Goals), more than three times Messi's 331 and four times Ronaldo's 252.

Ribery was marginally less successful on average than Ronaldo, evading defenders with 45.57 percent of his dribbles to the Portuguese's 46.03 percent, and more significantly behind Messi's 51.36 percent. But you can't get past a defender without trying, and Ribery was more than willing to attempt to beat his man.

When successful (and he very often was), his ability to subsequently create scoring opportunities was devastating.

5.5: Successful Dribbles Per Game in 2013-14

Michel Euler/Associated Press

Compared with other top attacking players in today's game, Ribery's shooting ability is not particularly outstanding. His quality with his weaker foot is limited, and there are several who have a better eye and touch for a creative pass. Yet the Frenchman is nonetheless one of the very best attacking players of the last decade.

The one attribute in which Ribery blows away his competition, the one that propels him to the top handful of players in recent years, is, as mentioned in the previous slide, his dribbling. Although some are renowned as elite in one-on-ones, there really is no comparing to the Frenchman, whose numbers are in a completely different league.

Most players begin to lose their effectiveness in one-on-one situations not long after the age of 30, but Ribery nonetheless recorded an incredible dribbling record even in the season during which he turned 31. During the 2013-14 campaign, the mercurial winger completed an average of 5.5 successful dribbles per game (via WhoScored?), maintaining his status as Europe's best dribbler.

160: Goals Directly Contributed to in the Bundesliga

Kerstin Joensson/Associated Press

In October of 2010, Claudio Pizarro became the most prolific scorer among all foreign players in Bundesliga history, surpassing Giovane Elber with his 133th goal in German league play. The 36-year-old has since increased his tally to 176, accompanied by 69 assists.

Ribery will never catch his teammate's goals record, having scored only 65 times in league play. But the combined sum of goals plus his 95 assists (per Transfermarkt) means that the Frenchman has directly contributed to a whopping 160 goals in Bundesliga play. Not bad for a man who didn't move to the German top flight until the age of 24.

Ribery still has two-and-a-half years left on his contract at Bayern and has a slight chance of catching Pizarro's tally of 245 combined goals and assists. If he extends his deal for another year or two, his chances increase substantially, although he'll sooner or later have to worry about competition for playing time as he enters the twilight of his career.

Regardless, Ribery's tally of 160 goals and assists in 189 Bundesliga appearances is absolutely phenomenal, especially considering how much time in his career the winger has spent working his way back into form after an injury. Consistently in almost every season he's averaged nearly or more than a goal or assist per game.