The greatest striker to ever play in Germany? Quite possibly. Robert Lewandowski leaves Bayern Munich as one of the biggest superstars in the history of the Bundesliga. There was simply no one in his galaxy when the Polish striker was on song.
A number of records are held by Lewandowski, and he has broken countless others. Therefore, it was no surprise that Barcelona signed him to challenge for silverware soon. Lewandowski was a one-man wrecking ball over more than a decade, including eight years spent in Bavaria.
344 goals in just 375 appearances across all competitions speak for themselves. One of the best players ever to not win the Ballon d’Or, Lewandowski is gunning to begin the next chapter of his career.
Before that happens, FootTheBall recounts the top 10 moments of Robert Lewandowski with Bayern Munich.
5 goals, nine minutes
Starting off with the absolute gold standard of displays in terms of individual brilliance. In just his second season with Bayern, Lewandowski underlined his absolute dominance in front of goal.
Coming on at halftime against Wolfsburg in September 2015, Bayern were trailing by a goal. It only took nine minutes for Lewandowski to make the score 5-1. Yes, all five strikes were scored by him, which included a brilliant scissor-kick and a half volley.
Never forget when Robert Lewandowski scored five goals in nine minutes as a sub ⚡
📽 @FCBayernUS pic.twitter.com/RC2txrNuaH
— Football Tekkers (@BallTekkers) July 16, 2022
Everyone inside the arena was stunned as Lewandowski set multiple Guinness World Records. These included the most goals by a substitute in the Bundesliga, and fastest to net three, four, and five goals respectively.
The record non-German goal scorer in Bundesliga
To nobody’s surprise, Lewandowski is the leading non-German scorer in the top-flight. He is only behind Gerd Muller in second-spot for the record outright.
It was in early 2019 that Lewandowski broke Claudio Pizzaro’s haul of 196 goals in the Bundesliga. Moreover, that goal came in less than 300 matches, with Lewandowski also joining the all-time top-five list.
41 goals in 29 matches
Yes, that is correct. The 2020-21 league season was special even by Robert Lewandowski’s standards. Apart from winning yet another Bundesliga title, the Pole broke Gerd Muller’s hallowed league record.
For almost 50 years, it was considered impossible for a player to score more than 40 goals. That too in just 34 matches.
1 – Robert #Lewandowski is the only player in Bundesliga history to…
– …score 41 goals in a single season.
– …score 128 away goals.
– …score a five-goal haul in under nine minutes (8:59 minutes).
-…become the top scorer in five consecutive seasons.Farewell. pic.twitter.com/TxIb363Osh
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) July 16, 2022
However, historians had not accounted for Lewandowski, who needed only 29 games. Moreover, his final strike came in the final match of the season, making the moment even more noteworthy.
Most goals in a calendar year
For all of his scoring prowess, it is a little surprising that Lewandowski broke this record in his final season.
Even after all this, Robert Lewandowski remains one of the best players to never win the Ballon d’Or, alongside these illustrious names
Nevertheless, another place in the history books for the irresistible striker. 43 goals in 2021, which included the fantastic season to the previous season, helped Lewandowski underline his dominance even as he gets older.
Winning on three fronts
The 2019-20 season was a record-breaker in all sorts of form for Bayern Munich. Hansi Flick led them to a treble of the Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League, and DFB-Pokal.
Moreover, Bayern would go on to win the sextuple as well in 2020. Robert Lewandowski was the best player through and through as he ended up being the top-scorer in each of the three competitions.
Since he joined Bayern Munich #OTD in 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟰, Robert Lewandowski has been the top scorer across Europe's top leagues 🇵🇱🥇 pic.twitter.com/ZNdsFeM6xg
— LiveScore (@livescore) July 9, 2022
34 (Bundesliga), 15 (Champions League), and six (DFB-Pokal) goals saw him become the first player to achieve this feat solely. Johan Cruyff had done it before, but Lewandowski is the only player to do it alone.
Best ratio in UCL
86 goals in Europe’s premier competition makes him the third-highest scorer in the Champions League.
Why Lewandowski deserved the Ballon d’Or in the past two seasons
However, Lewandowski has the best goals-to-games ratio with 0.81. It only took him 106 games to reach that tally. Moreover, with Barcelona in the competition in 2022-23, expect that total to rise significantly.
FIFA’s best…twice!
2020 and 2021 had something in common for Lewandowski. He was the adjudged the Best FIFA Men’s Player both seasons after his spectacular exploits.
Bayern Munich had a historical season in 2019-20, spearheaded by Lewandowski. While the silverware dried up in 2020-21, Lewandowski’s 41 goals saw the award come through.
It’s 11…it’s heaven!
The iconic lines used to describe Jamie Vardy scoring in 11 consecutive games in 2015 can be aptly applied to Lewandowski too.
The 33-year-old began the 2019-20 season by scoring in 11 straight games, breaking the record of eight games held by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Additionally, this run of games also saw him become the first Bundesliga player to score 10+ goals in just six matches.
German Supercup top-scorer
Lewandowski holds the record of netting the most goals in the DFL-Supercup over the years. His seven strikes are two ahead of former teammate Thomas Muller, winning six titles along with it. Lewandowski remains an indomitable force even in the cup competitions.
Quickest hat-trick in knockout football
Robert Lewandowski is no stranger to scoring goals in a very short period of time. That was proved once again in the round-of-16 of the 2021-22 Champions League campaign.
Lewandowski scored an 11-minute treble against RB Salzburg, making it the fastest from the start of the match. Furthermore, it was the quickest hat-trick in the knockout stages of the Champions League, as Bayern Munich won 7-1.