He may have been voted the world's best goalkeeper for a fourth year running but as Bayern Munich prepare to face Manuel Neuer's former club Schalke this weekend, it's easy to forget that many fans were opposed to his controversial signing in the summer of 2011.
Bayern fans booed Neuer during his days as Schalke No.1, with his former club's 1-0 win in the DFB Cup at the Allianz six years ago sticking in the memory.
Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge referred to the booing of Neuer after the game, condemning the "shameful behaviour" of certain fans. Around 6,000 fans protested at the Allianz Arena against the possible signing of Neuer, holding up "KOAN NEUER" -- "No Neuer" posters.
Why were so many Bayern fans so vehemently opposed to his signing? Well, Neuer spent 20 years learning his trade with his hometown club, once pronouncing to the adoring Schalke faithful: "I'm a German citizen but you could say I'm a Schalker too. I'm still one of you -- even though I now stand in front of you as your goalkeeper and not alongside you on the terraces."
This pledge of allegiance to the Royal Blue flag was a red rag to many Bayern fans. Certainly, Neuer wouldn't be the Bavarians' trusted goalkeeper if it was up to the hardcore fans, most notably the "Schickeria" group. These Bayern supporters were very much against his signing, essentially because he's a self-confessed Schalke nut and not "one of their own."
We have to go all the way back to 2009 for Schalke's last league win in Munich, when Gelsenkirchen-born Neuer produced another goalkeeping masterclass in a 1-0 victory. Bastian Schweinsteiger languished on the bench for the whole 90 minutes as Jurgen Klinsmann's flimsy title hopes were left in tatters.
Given his amazing success at Bayern, what a great bit of business it was to keep Neuer away from the clutches of Sir Alex Ferguson at United. Like Arjen Robben, who enjoyed his own redemption, it didn't take Neuer long to overcome the boo-boys with some majestic performances between the sticks.
Neuer has won the Bundesliga title every season bar his debut campaign of 2011-12 -- that excruciatingly painful annus horribilis when Bayern finished with a triple of second place finishes. That included a penalty shootout defeat against Chelsea on home soil in the Champions League final, but not before Neuer had completely dumbfounded Real Madrid in a shootout in the semifinals in the Bernabeu.
Naturally, he was the main man during Bayern's historic treble-winning season of 2013 and their triple hopes are still very much alive this campaign. The first leg of their round of 16 Champions League tie against Arsenal is less than two weeks away. Franck Ribery's untimely thigh injury on Tuesday makes him a serious doubt, while Arturo Vidal is making tentative steps back from a rib problem. But Thiago has looked sharp on his return to training and could get his first minutes of the year against Schalke. It's imperative the diminutive Spanish midfielder is fit and firing for the visit of the Gunners -- especially bearing in mind Thomas Muller's well-documented struggles.
Bayern were well below-par in both Freiburg and Bremen but managed to carve out narrow 2-1 victories -- the hallmark of champions. Expect a similarly tight win for the Bavarians against a Schalke side who can call on the services of a perfectly respectable goalkeeper themselves in Ralf Fahrmann -- but, of course, he's no Neuer.