Bayern Munich’s 3:0 away win over Haifa Maccabi in the first game of their Champions League campaign this season lifted Ukrainian international Anatoliy Tymoshchuk to 3rd place in the FTBL ranking of midfielders in the German Bundesliga.

The former Zenit St Petersburg playmaker, who now has an overall FTBL rating of 120.45 points, is 8 rating points ahead of his nearest rival and nipping at teammate Mark van Bommel’s heels; the Dutch international currently has an FTBL rating of 122.1 points. Another of Tymoshchuk’s teammates, Germany international Bastian Schweinsteiger, tops the chart with 150.74 points.

But Tymoshchuk will have to work hard to avoid losses in his next appearances, as he will have a plank of 17 rating points to beat for the 3:0 win over title holders Wolfsburg in Bundesliga action, followed by another plank of 24.45 rating points to beat as a result of Germany’s recent 5:0 drubbing of Andorra in a World Cup 2010 qualifier. A simple victory for Bayern will not be enough for Tymoshchuk to avoid a slump: he will have to score.