Five goals against Wolfsburg on Tuesday, two against Mainz on Saturday: Robert Lewandowski is on fire. “I’m very, very pleased,” the Pole said with a grin, “you have to think positive as a striker, even if things don’t go well. You always have to try. Then you’ll eventually have a spell like this.” Modest words in the light of the records Lewandowski is beating these days.
In his 168th Bundesliga match the 27-year-old scored his 100th goal; he achieved this faster than any other non-German player. Only six players have been quicker in 52 years of the Bundesliga, among them Gerd Müller. Der Bomber was the only player to score ten goals in the first seven league matches (in 1968 and 1977) – until Saturday, that is. Lewandowski matched that with his two-goal tally in the 51st and 63rd minutes.
“Just incredible,” declared skipper Philipp Lahm, “he succeeds at everything. Of course we’re happy to make the most of it.” Lewandowski has scored eight goals in the last three league matches. Can he even beat the magic 40-goal mark by Gerd Müller from the 1971/72 season? “I’m not thinking about it. I’ll always give everything I have and stay focused. We’ll see how many goals I end up scoring.”
Will it continue against Zagreb?
The success of the team is more important anyway, stressed Lewandowski: the more goals he scores, the more likely FCB are to win. But the Pole was in for some criticism from his team-mates on Saturday. “The average elapsed time per goal increased again,” Thomas Müller chuckled after it took Lewandowski 12 minutes to score twice this time: “We’ll talk about it in private.”
Matthias Sammer too mentioned a “little crisis” in the case of Lewandowski. “He only scored two goals. But we’ll turn a blind eye today.” Jokes apart, everybody at FC Bayern is hoping the Pole’s run continues, because the next two games (both at home) will be difficult. First the Reds are up against Croatian double winners Zagreb in the Champions League on Tuesday, then they host second-placed Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Sunday. Lewandowski can hardly wait: “The points have to remain in Munich.”
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