'Not a humiliation at all' - Thomas Muller responds to Bayern Munich controversy after Lothar Matthaus' comments

Bayern Munich legend Thomas Müller has reassured everyone that there are no issues between him and head coach Vincent Kompany, choosing to extinguish the flames sparked by Lothar Matthäus' comments after last week's Champions League match against Celtic.

Last week, Kompany put Muller on the bench for a crunch second leg pre-Round of 16 playoffs fixture away at Celtic, bringing him on with only 24 seconds left on the clock. Matthaus, a Bayern legend himself, was not too pleased with what he saw and was transparent in his analysis of Muller's situation.

"This is humiliating. It made me sad and I feel sorry for him. I was shocked. Thomas Muller doesn't have to put himself through that. He is one of the greatest and most successful players of all time," Matthaus told Sky Sports.

"So for those few seconds, the coach can take another player. If that is the perspective for the future, then he should do something else. I don't think he enjoyed it. For what? So that he can be credited with another Champions League appearance? I would have felt stupid if I were him."

“When you're humiliated like that, well, when you get one like that, it really is like that ... then I can hardly stand up," Muller joked at first when speaking to DAZN (h/t BILD).

"Of course, you have to say that there are different types of players. And maybe it was the same in the past when you were brought on to waste time, and for some it felt like a humiliation. But I have a very good relationship with the coach and I have not felt that way at all.

“If I'm needed, then I'm there. We are all here at FC Bayern in the squad to put ourselves at the service of the club. The coach decides and he decides with the best of his knowledge and conscience. We have to keep recommending ourselves. So a little more was made of it, everything is okay."

With Harry Kane not at his best fitness wise, Kompany handed Muller a rare start over the weekend in a Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt. The 35-year-old spent 64 minutes on the pitch before being hooked for Kane.

He will be expecting to find some more minutes during Friday's tricky fixture against Stuttgart, which Die Roten play away from home.