Bixente Lizarazu, French leftback of Bayern Munich, has been voted Best Defender of the first half of the Bundesliga season by the weekly magazine Kicker.

Lizarazu, 34, finished narrowly ahead of compatriot and club-mate Willy Sagnol, Bayern’s rightback. Third and fourth were the Stuttgart youngsters Philipp Lahm and Andreas Hinkel.

The Stuttgart manager, Felix Magath, was voted Man of the Year by Kicker’s panel of experts.