Robert Lewandowski's most iconic moments for Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Poland
- Planet Sport writer
- 16 July 2022
After eight successful seasons at Bayern Munich, Robert Lewandowski is leaving the club on a sour note as he joins La Liga giants Barcelona. Here, we take a look at his most iconic moments.
With over 600 goals to his name at club and international level, Robert Lewandowski shows no signs of slowing down with age. The 2021/22 season alone saw him score 50 goals across all comeptitions.
The 33-year-old is no stranger to the Champions League either, being the joint third-highest goalscorer with 86 netted in the competition; behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Planet Sport looks back at the career highlights of a player who is set to join Barcelona for £42million.
Record-breaking World Cup qualifiers
Lewandowski reached 50 goals for his country during the 2018 Russia World Cup qualifiers, scoring 16 times during the qualifying campaign - a record for European World Cup qualifiers.
However, there is one game which stands out from the rest. It was against Armenia where Lewandowski scored a hat-trick in his country's 6-1 win to reach a half-century of international goals. It moved him top of the all-time goalscoring list for Poland, surpassing Wlodzimierz Lubanski's long-standing mark of 48.
The failed Blackburn dream
Lewandowski remains in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich. However, they weren't his first club in Germany.
After starting his playing career in his native Poland, the striker was looking to move away and start another challenge. That ended up being a transfer to Borussia Dortmund where he stayed for four years.
However, the story almost took a completely different turn.
Blackburn Rovers, who were in the Premier League at the time, were in the market for Lewandowski. Unfortunately for them, the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud crisis in 2010 made plane travel impossible and the move never materialised according to then-boss Sam Allardyce.
Lewandowski instead made the career-defining decision to move to Dortmund, kick-starting his German adventure.
Title victory during the pandemic
The year 2020 was a memorable one for many and it was no different for soccer.
Sport was forced to stop as much of Europe and the world went into lockdown for several months due to Covid-19.
As cases started to decrease and the situation in Germany improved, it was the Bundesliga that became the first major European league to return behind closed doors.
The return to playing was an important for supporters' morale after months of being cooped up inside with no sport to watch.
It also meant Bayern's game against Bremen took on added importance.
But with the eyes of the soccer-watching world on him, Lewanowski didn't disappoint. The Poland international controlled a perfectly weighted Jerome Boateng chip with his chest and then powered a shot into the back of the net with his right foot to wrap up the title for Bayern.
Making a statement in Poland's lower leagues
Lewandowski started his career in his home country of Poland, where he played for MKS Varsovia, Delta Warsaw and Znicz Pruszkow before moving to Lech Poznan in June 2008.
He had earned several accolades at Znicz Pruszkow, including leading the third tier's goalscoring charts. After the club were promoted, he repeated the feat in the second division.
However, his move to Lech Poznan catapulted him to the next level. It was here that he scored the winning goal in his very first European game, a UEFA Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan side Khazar Lankaran.
Lewandowski has scored in many European games since that day but it should not to be forgotten just how far he has come.
A truly special goal
At first glance this shouldn't be deserving of a place on the list of Lewandowski's iconic moments.
However, to Lewandowski the game against Atletico Madrid in 2016 was very special.
His wife was pregnant at the time and it was during the match that he announced the news to the world.
Four goals in 15 minutes
Another iconic Champions League moment came during the 2019/20 season when Lewandowski bagged four goals in just 15 minutes against Red Star Belgrade.
It also becomes clearer why the Warsaw-bron striker has netted so many goals in his career, with his full range shown in the four-goal haul.
He kicked it off with a coolly taken penalty, then came a header and a goal in a chaotic penalty area. And, finally, a classic one-two with Ivan Perisic wrapped up the striker's awesome foursome.
The 200-goal club and more...
Lewandowski had an unbelievable 2019/20 season, both individually and with Bayern Munich.
It was during a Champions League match when Bayern beat Red Star Belgrade 3-0, Lewandowski reached the 200-goal mark for the club... and the scoring didn't stop there.
Lewandowski became the first player to score in each of the first nine, 10 and 11 Bundesliga matches and went on to claim his first Champions League title as Bayern Munich edged out Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the final.
More Champions League magic
Rarely did Lewandowski not make it onto the scoresheet in Bayern Munich's Champions League matches during the 2019/20 season.
In fact, this only happened twice, during their 3-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur and the final against PSG.
Not only did Lewandowski's goals fire the team to success, but he beat yet more competition records by scoring four inside 16 minutes in the 6-0 thrashing of Red Star Belgrade - the fastest anyone has scored four goals in a Champions League game.
Another standout match in Bayern's Champions League run came in the form of the 8-2 annihilation of Barcelona.
Although Lewandowski only netted once, heading in the sixth goal, it meant the Poland international had scored 14 goals in eight consecutive Champions League matches.
He went on to finish with 15 goals, making him the top goalscorer in the Champions League that campaign.
Poland's record-breaker
It isn't just on the domestic and European stage that Lewandowski shines.
Poland have been involved in four major competitions since the Warsaw-born striker earned his first call-up in 2008.
With 76 goals in 132 appearances for his country, it isn't surprising that he has won the Polish Player of the Year award 10 times, seven of those coming consecutively between 2011 and 2017.
His outstanding work ethic and prolific goalscoring form helped his country qualify for three consecutive European Championships as well as the 2018 World Cup in Russia and 2022 in Qatar.
'That' game against Wolfsburg
Lewandowski's five-goal phenomenon against Wolfsburg in 2015 is the stuff of legends.
Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola opted not to start the Poland international, instead bringing him on for the second half with Die Roten trailing 1-0.
Lewandowski single-handedly turned the match in Bayern's favour, scoring all their goals in a 5-1 win.
It wasn't just the soccer world that was amazed by his performance. He was also awarded four Guinness world records - for the most goals scored by a substitute in the Bundesliga, the fastest Bundesliga hat-trick - achieving it under four minutes - as well as setting new benchmarks for the fastest four and five-goal hauls in a Bundesliga match.
Not only does Lewandowski have these records hung up on the wall at his house, he has also kept the boots he wore in the game.
When reflecting on the game in a recent interview with Bayern Munich, he said: "That was a day, a game - and the goals too - that will live long not only in my memory, but also in the history of football for a very long time."
