Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski has scored 36 Bundesliga goals this season and is only four away from equaling Gerd Müller’s 40 goal record — five away from breaking it. It’s more than likely than Lewandowski would’ve at least equaled the record by now had he not missed most of April due to a knee injury he sustained while on international duty with Poland during the last international break in March. During that stretch, he missed four Bundesliga matches for Bayern.
Despite his injury set back, in Bayern’s press conference ahead of their matchup against Borussia Monchengladbach, Hansi Flick said he believes the Polish ace is still fully focused and capable of breaking Müller’s record (ESPN). He only has three matches left to break the record, but if there’s any striker in the world that can score five goals in three matches, it’s Lewandowski. “Sure, he is naturally also focused on the record. But he knows how we tick, that we want to win first. If we play good football, he’s the one to profit most from it,” Flick said when he was asked about his talisman.
For any other player, it’d be insurmountable to expect a five-goal return with only three matches remaining. Add to that the high probability that Bayern will secure their ninth consecutive Bundesliga title this weekend, but that won’t lessen the incentive for Lewandowski whatsoever. Speaking on the strikers world class ability, Flick continued, “he has got enormous quality. We are talking about a world class footballer here. He is unique in the world right now. He has been the best player in the box in the past couple of years. He is always scoring 30 plus goals. He is incredibly important for the club and this year he has come close to the mark. He is all fired up for the record and we will see after those three games if he has achieved it.”
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images
Of the teams left on Bayern’s schedule before the season concludes, Lewandowski scored against all of them in the First round fixtures: ‘Gladbach, SC Freiburg and FC Augsburg. If the reverse fixtures were any barometer of what’s to come this weekend and the next two, Lewandowski will score, and hopefully enough to give him the record.
Just a friendly reminder that he’s capable of scoring five goals in one match, and doing so inside of nine minutes:
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