Team

An intense, emotional rollercoaster: Miro Muheim looks back on HSV career ahead of 100th game

In his 99 games for the Rothosen so far, Miro Muheim has experienced highs, lows and everything in between. We’ve taken a look back at the last three years and spoke to the left-back about his most memorable moments in a HSV shirt.

Playing 100 games for a club is a special milestone. In that timeframe, a footballer goes through a lot - not just the ups and downs, but all the joyful and tear-jerking moments in between, too. Left-back Miro Muheim has experienced more than his fair share of this in his 99 games for the Rothosen. Muheim’s story is one of the highest highs and the lowest lows that deserves to be looked back upon and celebrated before he has the chance to make his 100th appearance for the club against SC Preußen Münster on Saturday (13:00 CEST).

An emotional first campaign

Muheim was brought in on a loan deal from Swiss side FC St. Gallen in summer 2021 to provide some competition for former HSV captain Tim Leibold at left-back. There were no doubts about the then-23-year-old’s talent, particularly going forward – after all, he had first begun to ply his trade at Chelsea FC’s world-famous youth academy. Despite this, Muheim only played once in his first eight league games at the club. A window of opportunity would open for Muheim at the end of October, however, as Leibold suffered a nasty cruciate ligament injury, and the back-up was promoted to the starting XI. It was time for the Zürich-born defender, who quickly felt at home in Hamburg and at HSV, to show why his loan deal should be made permanent.

After a string of starts, “Quattro M” (a nickname that stems from his full name – Miro Max Maria Muheim) lost his place in the XI to home-grown talent Josha Vagnoman in the final third of the campaign. Undeterred, Muheim was called upon again in the final five games of the season, where he showed his resolve to help the side win all five matches and score his first HSV goal in the process. “It was definitely one of the most emotional moments for me,” said Muheim, looking back at that 4-2 victory in Regensburg. “It was my first goal, and it came it a hard-fought, important game. After I scored, we felt more relaxed and were able to come away with the three points.”

"The number of fans that travelled there with us was unbelievable. The atmosphere was incredible.”

Muheim had scored the first of many goals for the Rothosen, with the highest high and lowest low of his HSV career rapidly approaching – the 2022 relegation play-off against Hertha BSC. “The away game in Berlin was just amazing. The number of fans that travelled there with us was unbelievable. The atmosphere was incredible,” remembered Muheim, who assisted Ludovit Reis’ opening goal on the night (see photo above). “And then, just a few days later, we had the second leg, which was the most painful defeat I’ve experienced as a HSV player. It was just agonising – I don’t want to experience a feeling like that ever again.”

More drama in season two

There was no time to dwell on the heartbreaking loss, however, as the start of Muheim’s sophomore season came around in the blink of an eye. Over the course of the 2022/23 campaign, the left-back developed into one of the side’s key men, only missing one league match due to suspension and being named in the starting XI on 31 occasions. He was given a boost by his signing being made permanent during this second season. It allowed Muheim to “play with more freedom” and feel “even more comfortable” in the team and at the club. His performances and statistics reflected this, as he bagged crucial goals against Regensburg and Fürth on matchday 32 and 33 respectively, in addition to racking up seven assists.

“I’ll never, ever forget it”

After the traumatic final game of the season against SV Sandhausen, HSV faced off against VfB Stuttgart in yet another relegation play-off. In comparison to the previous year, though, the clash seemed to be all but over for the Rothosen after a 3-0 defeat in the first leg. In spite of this, Muheim has fond memories of the return fixture at the Volksparkstadion. “The second leg against Stuttgart was very special. I’ve never experienced something like that in my life,” explained Muheim. “My ears hurt, especially after we made it 1-0 early on. It was by far the loudest crowd I’ve heard at HSV, and it really unleashed a lot of energy. I’ll never, ever forget it.”

Not done yet

You could finish the story here, were it not for the 2023/24 season that is still in the rear-view mirror. Last year, Muheim was the most prolific defender in the 2. Bundesliga, as he got himself on the scoresheet five times, including his “best goal for HSV in the 1-1 draw against Fürth”. The once reserved full-back took a huge stride forwards in his development on and off the pitch, too, evolving into a leader in the dressing room and even captaining the side for the very first time in a DFB-Pokal clash against Arminia Bielefeld. “It was massive honour for me. It reaffirmed my mentality of wanting to lead the way and be an example for my teammates. That moment gave me a massive boost,” revealed Muheim in an interview with HSV.de at the beginning of the year.

In three years and 99 competitive appearances for HSV, Muheim’s development as a player can be traced back to this mindset of striving to continually improve and, in the process, recover from setbacks and come back stronger as an individual and as a team. The 26-year-old has picked up where he left off at the start of this campaign, having entered the second-most duels of any 2. Bundesliga player so far this season (64), coming out on top 40 times, including in every single aerial duel. “Quattro M” has also registered the second-most passes (150), most touches (235) and most shot-creating actions (5) of any HSV player. What’s more, the left-back scored an absolute beauty in the triumph over SV Meppen in the DFB-Pokal. Here’s to another 100 games for HSV, Miro!