Clubs: VfB Stuttgart, FC Bayern München

UEFA honours
UEFA European Championship: runner-up 2008
UEFA Champions League: runner-up 2010

• Born in south-west Germany to a Spanish father and German mother, Gomez made his breakthrough in 2005/06 with six goals for Stuttgart; was leading scorer the following season with 14 in the club's shock Bundesliga triumph and named German footballer of the year.

• Registered 19 Bundesliga goals in 2007/08 plus three in four UEFA Champions League games to earn a place in the Germany team at UEFA EURO 2008, where his form strangely deserted him and he failed to score.

• Replaced Luca Toni as the focal point of Bayern's attack in 2009/10 after moving for a Bundesliga record €30m; scored in five successive top-flight games before Christmas and registered ten league goals − plus three in the German Cup − in total during the club's double-winning campaign.

• A late substitute during Bayern's loss to FC Internazionale Milano in the 2010 UEFA Champions League final, he made four appearances at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa a few weeks later − all from the bench − as Germany reached the last four.

• Finished top scorer in the 2010/11 Bundesliga with 28 goals − a total which included five hat-tricks, one of which was against Stuttgart − but his efforts were in vain as Borussia Dortmund beat Bayern to the title.

• Scored UEFA Champions League hat-tricks the following season against SSC Napoli (3-2) and, in the round of 16, FC Basel 1893, the latter as he equalled Dado Pršo's record for the quickest four-goal haul in the competition (23 minutes).