Robert Lewandowski added weight to his reputation as one of the world’s greatest-ever strikers on Tuesday night.
The Bayern Munich striker opened their account as they won 4-1 at Lazio in their Champions League last-16 first leg at the Stadio Olimpico.
Lewandowski gave the holders the lead when he anticipated a loose pass from Mateo Musacchio and rounded Pepe Reina to tap in.
The ninth-minute goal was his 72nd in the history of the competition – placing him in third in the all-time goalscoring charts.
In doing so, he surpassed former Real Madrid striker Raul in the competition scoring charts to reach a total only bettered by Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo (134 goals), and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (119).
Sportsmail takes a look behind Bayern’s brilliant No 9 in Europe’s elite club competition.
Robert Lewandowski is now the third-highest goalscorer in Champions League history
Lewandowski achieved the feat on Tuesday with this last-16 strike for Bayern Munich at Lazio
WHO HAS HE SCORED FOR?
Lewandowski has only represented two clubs in the Champions League but they are the two biggest in Germany.
The Poland international made a name for himself on the grandest stage with Borussia Dortmund first of all. His three seasons in the Champions League with Dortmund (2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14) yielded an impressive 17 goals in 28 appearances.
In 2012-13 he spearheaded then-manager Jurgen Klopp’s attack as they reached the Champions League final where they lost to Bayern Munich. Despite failing to score, Lewandowski enjoyed a prolific campaign netting 10 goals that year to finish second only behind Ronaldo (12 for Real Madrid) in the goalscoring charts.
The start of the 2014-15 season saw Lewandowski join Dortmund’s bitter rivals Bayern after agreeing a pre-contract with them during the previous campaign.
Since joining the Bavarian outfit, it’s been nothing but goals for the Pole. To date he has a sublime 55 goals in 67 appearances.
His goal against Lazio was his 55th Champions League strike for Bayern in 67 appearances
The striker scored 17 goals in 28 appearances for Borussia Dortmund – including 10 in 2012-13
REAL MADRID’S MISERY
If you can’t beat them, join them? Real Madrid have tried that approach with Lewandowski but to no avail. However, it’s hard not to see why they have: he’s a natural-born goalscorer who loves to score especially against them.
Of his 72 Champions League goals, he’s scored more against Real than anyone else. The 32-year-old has netter six times in eight matches against the Spanish giants – a ratio of 0.75 goals-per-game. Four of these goals came in one match when he led Dortmund to a 4-1 victory over Real Madrid in the 2012-12 semi-final first leg at Signal Iduna Park.
There are a plethora of clubs he’s scored five times against, in fact four. Olympiacos, Ajax, Red Star Belgrade and Dinamo Zagreb have all been hit for five in the past – with the latter two across just two games each.
Lewandowski isn’t adverse to scoring against English sides either, just ask Arsenal who he has four goals in eight games against. Or their London rivals Chelsea (three goals in two fixtures) and Tottenham (two in a solitary match) who have been on the receiving end of his exploits too.
He hasn’t fared as well against Manchester City (scoring just once in four appearances), while he is yet to find the back of the net on two occasions against Liverpool.
He scored four goals for Dortmund as they beat Real Madrid 4-1 in their 2012-13 semi first leg
He’s scored five times vs Arsenal, including this towering header for Bayern in February 2017
BREAKDOWN OF HOW LEWANDOSWKI SCORES
When you breakdown his numbers, you appreciate how clinical Lewandowski is. Between himself, Ronaldo and Messi he boasts the best shot conversion rate at 20.3 per cent. Messi is next at 18.3 per cent, while Ronaldo is third at 13.5 per cent. Lewandowski scores a goal every 112.3 minutes too, a stat only bettered by Messi (102.9 minutes) out of the trio. Ronaldo scores every 113.5 minutes.
Of Lewandowski’s 72 goals 47 of them have been scored with his right foot – equating to just over 65 per cent. Nine have been scored with the left foot and 15 with his head.
A true predator in the box, 69 of his goals have come from the inside penalty area – a whopping 96 per cent.
Delving deeper into his 72-goal tally, 49 of them have been scored in open play – proving he’s a threat in live play or at a set-piece opportunity.
Oh, and one more thing: he doesn’t just stat pad against ‘weaker’ opposition. He has 47 goals in the group stages and a further 25 in the knockout rounds – proving he can score at the business end of tournaments too.
Lewandowski has scored 69 of his goals in the penalty area – including this chip vs RB Salzburg
The striker has a better shot conversion rate than Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Lionel Messi
HOME OR AWAY? IT DOESN’T MATTER
Like all greats, Lewandowski isn’t fazed by the occasion: he almost has an even split of where he scores.
Thirty seven of his goals have been at home (51 per cent), while 33 have been scored away. The other two have been scored at neutral venues and both coming last season in their Champions League quarter-final and semi-final wins over Barcelona and Lyon respectively.
He’s scored two goals at neutral grounds – including this header vs Lyon in last season’s semis
TIME IS JUST A CONCEPT
Just like venues, Lewandowski doesn’t favour a particular time he scores too. He has a balanced spread of his goals – emphasising the need to be wary of him throughout a 90 minutes.
One-eighth of his 72 goals (nine) have arrived in the first 15 in the first 15 minutes of a match – such as his strike against Lazio. Meanwhile, 10 have come between the 16th and 30th minute.
Fifteen minutes either side of half-time and the Polish powerhouse has identical clinical prowess – having scored 12 times between 31 and 45 minutes and 12 times between the 46th and 60th minute.
And as teams get tired, that’s when Lewandowski truly punishes them. He has 16 goals during the 61-75-minute period, while 13 in the final 15 minutes of the match. As encounters wear one, he somehow only seems to get stronger.
This penalty vs Salzburg in November is one of 10 goals he has scored between 16-30 minutes
OH, AND HE’S A BUNDESLIGA BEAST
Lewandowski is rightly earning the plaudits for his exploits on the continental stage, but let’s not forget what he does domestically too.
Just like Bayern, Lewandowski is on another tear in the Bundesliga – having plundered 26 goals in just 21 games this season. These incredible figures are all the remarkable when you compare them against his tally last term.
The previous campaign saw Lewandowski score a sublime 34 times in 31 appearances – scoring at a rate of every 81.2 minutes and with a shot conversion percentage of 24.6 per cent. Well, guess what? He’s blown that out of the water this season with his minutes-per-goal ratio improving to 68.2 per cent and his shot conversion rate increasing to a mind-blowing 30.2 per cent.
Lewandowski has scored a sublime 26 goals in 21 games for Bayern in the Bundesliga this term
He has more hat-tricks this season than last (two to one) and he has already improved on his numbers of assists with six in 2020-21, compared to four.
The 32-year-old is third in the Bundesliga list for all-time top goalscorers with 262. Only Klaus Fischer (268) and Gerd Muller (365) have more in the history of Germany’s top flight.
Lewandowski should surpass Fischer this season and at the rate he’s scoring don’t be surprised if he topples Muller too in the next four seasons.
Don’t be surprised if he finishes his career as Bundesliga’s all-time leading goalscorer
