Great, greater, greatest? Lewandowski closes in on the impossible

Gerd Mueller’s records of 40 goals in a single Bundesliga season and a career haul of 365 have long seemed eternal but Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski is changing the realms of what is possible.

Berlin (dpa) – Robert Lewandowski was denied by the woodwork three times in Bremen on Saturday but the Bayern Munich forward remains on course to match – or even better – Gerd Mueller’s record 40-goal campaign from 1972.

Lewandowski did net the third in Bayern’s 3-1 win over Werder, instinctively poking home from close-range at a corner for his 32nd in 25 season games.

With nine rounds remaining he needs to score at the rate of around a goal a game – no mean feat – until May to equal Mueller’s mark.

Succeed or fail in this task, Lewandowski is also coming into the sight of Mueller’s record of 365 Bundesliga goals after his strike in Bremen moved him onto 268, level in second-place in the all-time scoring chart with Schalke’s Klaus Fischer.

“I’m proud,” Lewandowski wrote on Twitter, of matching the “legendary” Fischer and said “I always want to help Bayern win new titles with my goals.”

Passing Fischer has long been inevitable but catching Mueller? “Even this record, assumed unbreakable, no longer seems completely out of the question,” Bayern wrote on their website.

“He’ll have to play for a few more years to break that record,” said team-mate Leon Goretzka, who noted the 32-year-old Lewandowski is still “physically in very good shape.”

Bayern’s veteran assistant coach Hermann Gerland said the Pole was currently the best striker in the world “with no ifs or buts.”

“Klaus was an excellent footballer, a world-class striker with incredible pace who was impressive in the air,” he told the club homepage before the Bremen game, and Lewandowski approaching him proved his own quality.

Gerland laughed off the immediate chase of Mueller’s all-time record but admitted he “is in terrific shape and very rarely gets injured. He’ll certainly be able to keep playing for a few more years.”

Lewandowski, after reportedly being of strong interest to Real Madrid two years, extended his Bayern contract to 2023 and staying longer is far from out of the question.

“Lewy knows how important he is in the team,” said Thomas Mueller. “He fights for his goals and for the team every game.”

Bayern reported that Lewandowski has scored against 16 of the 17 other sides in the Bundesliga this season with only title rivals RB Leipzig missing from his collection.

Only Lewandowski last season, Ailton (for Bremen in 2004) and Gerd Mueller (1967, 1970) have managed this before and the rematch at Leipzig on April 3 offers the chance for more history.

Thomas Mueller, however, said such matters are for “after your career,” and would be happy for Lewandowski to simply “score again in the next game please.”