Buyten's most valuable contribution in his debut season, however, came against Milan on 3 April 2007, in the first-leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final. Van Buyten scored two away goals to level the match and give Bayern Munich the advantage in the tie. In the quarter-final encounter against Milan, he scored twice with his left foot, once in the 78th minute to take Bayern to 1–1 and then he scored a stoppage time half-volley. On 4 February 2010, Bayern Munich announced that Van Buyten had signed a new contract that would keep him at the club until 2012. During the second half of the 2010–11 season, Van Buyten was mostly relegated to bench player status, but recovered his starting spot towards the end of the season. He was part of the squad that blitzed FC St. Pauli on 11 May 2011, netting a goal in an 8–1 victory that condemned the Hamburg-based side to relegation to the 2. Bundesliga. On 17 December 2011, in the match between Bayern Munich and 1. FC Köln, Van Buyten struck a free-kick so hard that the ball burst. On 30 April 2012, Van Buyten signed a one-year extension with Bayern Munich. Despite the arrival of centre-back Dante from Borussia Mönchengladbach in the summer of 2012, Van Buyten became an integral member of the back-line for the Bavarians during the 2012–13 campaign, part of a three-man rotation in the centre of defense with Dante and Jérôme Boateng. On 6 April 2013, with a 1–0 defeat of Eintracht Frankfurt thanks to a goal from Bastian Schweinsteiger, Van Buyten celebrated his third Bundesliga championship with Bayern, clinching the club's 23rd national title. Van Buyten played the full 90 minutes in the club's 3–0 second leg semi-final victory over Spanish champions Barcelona on 1 May, clinching a resounding 7–0 aggregate victory and a place in the Champions League final against fellow Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund. Van Buyten is the first Belgian player in a Champions League final. After heavily been linked with big spenders Monaco, Van Buyten signed a further contract extension with Bayern Munich on a one-year rolling contract. Having been a part member of the squad under manager Pep Guardiola, and despite scoring against Werder Bremen, Van Buyten was rumored to join 1. FC Köln on a pre-contract agreement, though this was denied by a club official. After the end of the season, the club