Clubs: TSV 1860 München, Borussia Dortmund

• Born in the Alpine foothills of southern Bavaria, Bender started his career alongside his twin brother, Lars, at 1860. Played 65 times in the 2. Bundesliga, scoring one goal, before leaving to join Dortmund in 2009 (as his brother moved to Bayer 04 Leverkusen).

• Represented Germany at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in 2006 and won the European title at U19 level − together with his brother − at the 2008 finals in the Czech Republic.

• Impressed as an effervescent defensive midfielder in Jürgen Klopp's progressive Dortmund side, replacing the injury-prone German international Sebastian Kehl; scored his first goal for the Schwarzgelben in a 1-1 draw at 1. FC Kaiserslautern on 12 February 2011.

• Made his senior debut for Germany in a surprise 2-1 home defeat by Australia on 29 March 2011.

• Started 50 matches, combined, in Dortmund's title-winning seasons of 2010/11 and 2011/12 and featured ten times in the club's journey to the 2013 UEFA Champions League final.

UEFA honours
UEFA Champions League: runner-up 2013
UEFA European Under-19 Championship: winner 2008