Berlin (AFP) – Robert Lewandowski underlined his status as a world-class striker with a Champions League record four goals in 15 minutes, leaving even his rivals comparing him to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The Bayern Munich star needed 14 minutes, 31 seconds to score his quartet in Tuesday’s 6-0 rout of Red Star Belgrade, making him the Champions League’s top-scorer with 10 goals in five games.
“I must admit, I’m addicted to goals,” Lewandowski, 31, wrote on Twitter, having now netted 27 goals in 20 games for Bayern this season.
Bayern have won all four games under interim coach Hansi Flick, conceding zero goals in the process and scoring 16 — seven of which were by Lewandowski.
“Robert is currently in top form,” said Flick. “He works incredibly professionally, always puts in extra work and has been rewarded for it again.”
His wife Anna, a former karate champion and fitness blogger, describes Lewandowski as a “machine” who puts in the hours at the gym to stay in top shape.
– ‘Machine’ –
“He really is a machine. His body is impressive. He is an absolute professional and sticks strictly to his diet plan,” she said.
His goal-scoring exploits are all the more remarkable given that Lewandowski needs a minor groin operation, most likely during January’s winter break.
Lewandowski, who was applauded off even by some Red Star fans, could have finished with five goals in Belgrade after a first-half effort was ruled out because of an offside from team-mate Tolisso Corentin in the build-up.
However, the Frenchman made up for it by creating two of the four goals.
“He (Lewandowski) gets a lot of chances if we play like this,” said Thomas Mueller as Bayern enjoyed 71 percent possession and peppered the Belgrade goal with 29 shots.
Lewandowski has 63 goals in 85 Champions League games, making him fifth in the list of all-time scorers behind Ronaldo (127), Messi (113), Spain’s Raul Gonzalez (71) and France’s Karim Benzema (64).
The Poland striker is the top-scoring foreigner in Bundesliga history with 281 goals in 302 games for Bayern and former club Dortmund.
His Belgrade haul was reminiscent of the five he scored in nine minutes in a 5-1 rout of Wolfsburg at the Allianz Arena in September 2015.
He is no stranger to scoring four-goals in the Champions League, having achieved the same stunning feat in Dortmund’s 4-1 hammering of Real Madrid in the 2013 semi-finals.
from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/35F8fYs
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