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Franck Ribery reached a century of Bayern Munich goals this weekend and also broke the record for the Frenchman with the most Bundesliga appearances. Ribery, 31, sealed Bayern's 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday by putting the ball past Bernd Leno early on in the second half. The 51st-minute goal, beautifully set up by a Xabi Alonso header, was the 100th time Ribery has hit the back of the net for Bayern in his 288th competitive match for the club he joined from Olympique Marseille in 2007. The former France winger made his 186th Bundesliga appearance for the champions and surpassed former Stuttgart and Hoffenheim defender Matthieu Delpierre as the Frenchman with the most games in the German top flight. "Hats off to him," Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said of the Frenchman in postmatch comments. "It was an important goal!" Catalan coach Pep Guardiola -- who used Ribery in a more central role in the first half -- also spoke highly of the player, who rivalled Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the 2013 Ballon d'Or award. "Franck has his place in the history of this club, he's one of the best non-German players in Bayern's history," Guardiola said. Ribers told reports after the match: "It's good for me me, but especially for the team. I'm so happy! "We're a good team and the mood is excellent. My teammates are superb, we're always together and always want to win." Meanwhile, Manchester City star Samir Nasri has told Canal+ he understands why Ribery retired from international football and acknowledged his own France career is also likely over. After missing out on the World Cup due to a back injury, Ribery declared he would no longer represent Les Bleus, claiming he was tired of trying to repair his reputation in his native country. Despite his influential role in France qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, the Bayern forward's image was badly damaged by his leading role in the national team squad's strike at the 2010 World Cup and his involvement in a sex scandal. Nasri, 27, who followed Ribery's example by bringing the curtain down on his own international career shortly afterwards, said he empathised with his former teammate. "I understand Ribery," he said. "He was dragged through the mud after what happened, a matter outside of sport and what happened at the World Cup. After that, he got back to his best level and carried the French team for two years. "He got injured and people say France will be better without him. That's difficult to take for a player like him who almost won the Ballon d'Or. It's tough not to be acknowledged at your true worth." Nasri was a surprise omission from Didier Deschamps' World Cup squad, and the player accepts that with Deschamps in charge, he would not add to his 41 caps -- and further hinted at a permanent exile. "As long as he is with France, yes, and even if there is a change of coach, I think it's finished," he added. "I have suffered more than anything else with the France team. "At the start, I was excited and proud to wear the France shirt, but afterwards, when I see the people, the hypocrites, around the French national team, no, I no longer want to do it." ESPN correspondent Ian Holyman contributed to this report.
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