Lewandowski finally topples Gerd Mueller’s Bundesliga goal record

Bayern Munich’s Polish forward Robert Lewandowski poses with the trophy for the leading goal scorer of the Bundesliga 2020 - 2021 season after the German first division Bundesliga football match Bayern Munich vs FC Augsburg in Munich, southern Germany – AFP 

BERLIN (AFP): Robert Lewandowski on Saturday broke Gerd Mueller’s 49-year-old record when he bagged a 41st Bundesliga goal of the campaign seconds before the final whistle on the last weekend of the season.

Mueller, 75, is suffering from severe dementia, but ‘The Bomber’ remains an iconic figure in German football as the Bundesliga’s all-time top scorer with 365 goals, well ahead of Lewandowski’s tally of 277.

Many thought Mueller’s record of 40 goals for Bayern Munich in 1971/72 would never be matched until Lewandowski rounded the goalkeeper to score in the same club’s 5-2 rout of Augsburg on Saturday after equalling the record last weekend.

“It was tense until the last second, I would have liked to have scored earlier,” a relieved Lewandowski told Sky. “Sometimes you also have to stay patient, which was difficult. I always believed that a chance would come. That was a special and historic moment.”

While Mueller scored his 40 goals over 34 league games in 1971/72, injury and squad rotation meant Lewandowski broke the record in just 29 matches.

Bayern scored 101 goals in the league in 1971/72 and 99 this season.

Physically, the 32-year-old Lewandowski is very different to Mueller, who was 26 in the 1971/72 season. “Robert is an athlete, Gerd was an artist,” Mueller’s wife – Uschi Mueller – told magazine Sport Bild.

At 1.84m and 79kgs, Lewandowski is a model athlete, renowned for his strict diet and training programme.

Mueller, at 1.76m and 80kgs in his prime, was nicknamed “short fat Mueller” by former Bayern coach Zlatko Cajkovski.

The pair share an insatiable appetite for goals.

Lewandowski has hit the net on average every 60 minutes this season, while ‘The Bomber’ scored every 77 minutes in 1971/72.