Greatest Fair Play Moments in Bundesliga

Aaron Hunt, a child of the Bundesliga, has retired. As well as his goals in 304 Bundesliga appearances for Hamburg, Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg, he'll be remembered in particular as a great sportsman. In his honour, here are our top 10 fair play moments since 2010. They are rivals out on the pitch, but as soon as the action stops, Alassane Playa and Peter Galacci are the best of friends. As Playa helps out Galacci by tying his shoelaces. That's a nice gesture. He can't take his gloves off, I guess. Yeah, but it takes five hours to take the gloves on and off. Well done, Alassane Playa. Well done. Fair play. Fair play. This was the darkest day in Oliver Baumann's career. Oh, Baumann, what a mistake! How on earth did you do that? He completely misjudged it. Long pass forward and again. Baumann, what's he doing? He's having a bummer of a game. What is happening to this young, excellent goalkeeper, Oliver Baumann? Weister. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. And such an easy goal for Hamburg. Despite that, the then Freiburg goalkeeper received tremendous support from the home crowd. Excellent fair play from the fans. There were two moments of exemplary sportsmanship in the game between Bayern and Wolfsburg. As Javi Martinez injured himself, he kicked the ball out. By the letter of the law, a corner for Wolfsburg. But Maximilian Arnold showed his class and Bayern would reciprocate. Arnold does the sporting thing, just taps it out of play. That is greatly appreciated by the Bayern fans here at the Allianz Arena. Because clearly Martinez was in distress, but he touched the ball. So technically speaking, it had to be a corner. But I suppose there's the right thing to do and there's the wrong thing to do. And that's the right thing to do from Oliver. He's giving it back now. A lot of fair play going on just before Christmas. The most emotional of comebacks during the 2015-16 season. Union Berlin's Benjamin Koerler returns to the pitch nearly 400 days after a chilling cancer diagnosis. And this amazing gesture from his teammates. Seven minutes in and time for a message of positivity to Union's number seven. The message is fighting together. Union supporting Benjamin Koerler. Koerler fought back, thanks also to the support from his teammates. In the 2020-21 campaign, Mainz and Köln fought for Bundesliga survival in a fierce contest. The winners of the match were true sportsmen. Delight for Mainz at the last. Heartbreak for Köln, you feel. It's a devastating blow for Cologne. Bundesliga survival was at stake. But it's Mainz who pick up three big points in the relegation battle. Final score is Köln 2, Mainz 3. You can see the Mainz players. That's class. They're going to pick the players off the ground. It's the team they're fighting against for the relegation and they're still picking them off the ground. It's great sportsmanship. Wide for Grieffo again as Freiburg chase the game. Oh, he goes down. Penalty, surely. In fifth place, we have the penalty retracted by Vincenzo Grieffo. Well, Vincenzo Grieffo says no. Freiburg two down here looking for a route back into this. And as Grieffo goes down, he says no, it wasn't a penalty from Chandler here. Oh, this is terrific from Grieffo. When you're searching for something, a route back into things. And he says no. Terrific from Grieffo. Great sportsmanship all round. And the Frankfurt players acknowledge it too. I didn't think he'd hit me on the pitch, so I wanted to show right away that it wasn't a penalty. It's a sportsman. Fair play and the team. I saw many players making theatre and whatever, and so he said no, he didn't touch me, and so great sportsman. In the Benderswins' final appearance, even the awarding of a penalty led to a great fair play gesture. Patrick Schick. There will be a penalty. Lars Bender and Julian Baumgartlinger coming on. Began together, finished together. Lars Bender on for Sven. Retiring Bundesliga greats. So Lars Bender, one last shot literally to round up his career. This is Lars Bender. Berkey just watches this one sail past him. Great gesture there from Roman Berkey to not have the biggest of effort to stop this one. Even Roman Berkey says congratulations on a wonderful career and a goal scored by Lars Bender, five years Leverkusen's captain, to round it off. Felix Bastiens proved that fairness does in fact get rewarded. Bastiens. One nil down. Borkum, they need an equaliser. And Bastiens goes down in the box. A penalty given by the referee. A protest from the Darmstadt players was their contact on Felix Bastiens. The referee has had a good look and has decided that it's a penalty. Still the debate goes on. Bastien goes to the referee. And he's changed his mind. No penalty. Well, fair play Felix Bastiens. That really is the spirit of sport, especially when your team's a goal down. Borkum went on to beat Darmstadt 2-1, but the real winner was fair play. Anything goes when you're battling relegation, but not as far as Aaron Hunt is concerned. He's pointed straight to the spot. Oh, Pinola can't believe it. Hunt running through. He seemed to go down so easily. But Hunt said, no, it wasn't a penalty. Well, now there's a great piece of sportsmanship from Aaron Hunt. Florian Trinks was also brought up to show respect. Nice football by Kreuter Furt. And it's in eventually by Florian Trinks. Although something's amiss here. And he's telling the referee, I think, that he handled that one on its way into the net. Almost seemed embarrassed to claim it. Sandhausen were immediately appealing. But that is brilliantly honest because it would have been a goal for 2-1. And even the opposition appreciate that. And that earned his place in top spot. His fort side would go on to win in any case, with a goal from Trinks himself, proving that honesty is the best policy. Ten decisions that provide evidence of great respect in the game, the way it should be. Aaron Hunt with a great second place will always be remembered as a fair sportsman of the Bundesliga. Which gesture of fair play impressed you most? Let us know in the comments.