Robert Lewandowski's hunt for Gerd Müller's age-old record is electrifying the Bundesliga. The Pole only needs one goal to equal the 40-goal mark set by "Der Bomber" in the 1971/72 season. In an interview with the FCB club magazine "51", Bayern legends explain what makes Lewandowski so special - and why he can make history this season. Paul Breitner has his say in this second part. The 69-year-old scored a total of 93 goals in 285 Bundesliga games during his playing days, won everything there was to win in football with Gerd Müller in the seventies and sees clear parallels between the two goalscorers.
Part 2: Paul Breitner on the desire of great scorers
"To have a realistic chance as a goalkeeper with a penalty, you have to decide on a corner before the shooter has touched the ball - and this is what Robert Lewandowski takes advantage of, just as I did in the past. Even though everyone knows what they're up to, the tension for the keeper with Lewandowski's delayed run-up becomes so great that a stimulus is triggered and a reaction, a movement, is almost inevitable. A little twitch is enough and the goalkeeper is beaten."
Parallels between two exceptional strikers
"As a shooter, you have to have 100% concentration, otherwise you'll make a mistake in the sequence of movements. It's not the end of the world missing an unimportant penalty, but it brings you down and shows you can't do it alone. With this method, you have a good chance as a striker even if a goalkeeper stands still for a long time. The reason is you aim at your safe corner - for a right-footed player this is the right side. If the goalkeeper does move there, your have the chance to switch sides like a jackknife before the moment of impact and push the ball into the left corner. And if the goalkeeper doesn't react at all, you can place the ball with the instep, sharp and flat next to the right post - almost unstoppable for a keeper moving off too late."
"For me it's certain Lewandowski will crack Gerd Müller's 40 goals this season. He has such quality and on top of that a desire that I've only seen in Gerd in five decades, never satisfied and wanting to score ten goals in every game. And should Lewandowski play for Bayern for three more years without a major injury, Gerd Müller's record of 365 Bundesliga goals is also under threat. However - I'm sure of this too: If he could, Gerd would sit in the stands today and show his approval every time Lewandowski scores. He's such a wonderful, fair person - he would just enjoy it."
In Part 1 of the series, Mario Gómez analysed the goalscorer Robert Lewandowski:
Topics of this article