“If you look at my record of 41 goals in 29 games…it’s amazing!”
Even Robert Lewandowski finds it difficult to comprehend his incredible goalscoring numbers.
The legendary striker was speaking to Sky Sports from his home in Barcelona as he prepares for training that could add yet another accolade to his CV.
However, Lewandowski, now 37, is targeting double La Liga and Champions League titles with Barcelona, while also keeping an eye on Harry Kane from his former club Bayern Munich.
The England captain is threatening Lewandowski’s record for most goals scored in a 34-game Bundesliga season, but even with 30 goals in 24 games, Kane is still a long way from matching Lewandowski’s incredible 2020/21 results in the final 10 games of the league season.
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Harry Kane scored Bayern Munich’s second goal in style against Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, scoring his 500th career goal.
“Harry Kane always scores a lot of goals, he plays really well and he does a great job,” said an impressed Lewandowski. “And we saw that we achieved this in 29 games…I can only imagine if we played 34 games we could score even more.”
Lewandowski bursts into laughter. “Thanks to him, I can now be more proud of my record!”
It’s no surprise that a player who has scored over 700 goals in his career for club and country is proud of his statistics.
But in a wide-ranging conversation that explores the secrets of what it takes to become a star striker, it’s clear Lewandowski has more than goals in mind.
“So many people thought I was too focused on scoring goals and didn’t care about tactics,” he says, before weighing in on his experience in the game…
Why the traditional number 9 is an endangered species – and the key to his longevity How Pep Guardiola has changed the way he thinks about football What’s next for him as his Barça contract expires this summer and the key to unlocking the potential of table tennis rival Marcus Rashford
“It’s like copy and paste. It’s like a factory.”
Lewandowski is entering his 22nd career season. He has seen trends come and go, with a physical, direct approach taking hold in England’s top flight this season.
But he recently noticed a deeper change. A departure from individuality and impulsiveness. There are no more heretics.
“Of course there are players who are unique and different,” he says. “But it’s certainly less than before, there are a lot of similar players in the academy.
“The way they want to learn soccer is like copy and paste. It’s like a factory.”
Robert Lewandowski celebrates with teammate Fermin López
“The world is changing,” Lewandowski said, pointing to the pressures placed on today’s young players and the restrictions placed on their lifestyles.
However, he explains that this is not an environment that produces elite-level strikers.
“Strikers are in a different position. You can’t learn to be a great striker from the academy.
“You have to be different from other people. You have to think differently from other people. I feel that this trend is decreasing every year.
“It’s not just skills. Mentality is the most important thing in order to be different from the team. You can’t do the same thing as everyone on the team. You can’t continue to stay in the position that the team or someone expects of you.”
“No, the striker has to know where to go, where the ball is going to come, because only you on the pitch know. You have this feeling.
“I remember having a conversation with Pep Guardiola many years ago. We were talking about tactics and he said, ‘I can help you get the ball into the box, but you should never listen to a coach who says it should be first or second post.’
“He said, ‘What I saw, you know exactly where to go.’ I have this kind of instinct, this kind of emotion in my heart, and I know exactly that.
“You need freedom. Freedom allows you to perform at your best.”
Robert Lewandowski says Pep Guardiola has changed the way he sees the game
Lewandowski joined Guardiola at Bayern Munich in the summer of 2014 and went on to score 67 goals in 100 games over the next two seasons with the Spanish manager. It was a time of change for the striker and the way he looked at the game changed.
“Thanks to Pep, I started to understand football in a different way,” Lewandowski says. “It’s a little bit like how you do it as a coach, not the way you do it as a football player.
“So many people thought I was too focused on scoring goals and didn’t care about tactics, but that’s not true.
“Ultimately, we know that if our team plays better and we play better tactically as a team, it will be easier to score goals. That’s normal.”
Another criticism that Lewandowski rejects is that his age is affecting his physicality.
“‘He’s too old to run,'” Lewandowski says, quoting a typical critic. “Then I check my numbers and see how I compare to other strikers and attacking players. And I was the (top) player who was pressing during the match.”
“Sometimes what happens in the world is funny because it doesn’t make sense. But it’s easy for someone to find an excuse to write something about someone.”
Lewandowski’s next move
Lewandowski admits he still doesn’t know where he will play next season. His contract expires this summer, but his reduced playing time this term has led to speculation about his future actions. However, he is not in a hurry to make a decision.
“The good thing is there’s no pressure,” he says. “When I’m 30 or a few years (younger), this feeling will change. ‘I want to see where I play.’ But at the moment I don’t need to know. I have the patience.”
“It takes me about three months to decide what I want to do. It’s just me.”
He and his family have settled in Barcelona, where he says “everything we need is there.”
It appears that a move to the Premier League was not intended. He was also on the brink of a move to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Man United, while the volcano famously scuppered his contract with Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn. “But at the time, when I was at Dortmund, they wouldn’t let me go. So it’s probably like someone decided that you should play there instead of playing there…And in the end, it was like, OK, I’m very happy with my career!”
‘Rashford has it all – believe in him’
Marcus Rashford and Robert Lewandowski
Had he moved to United, his paths might have crossed with Marcus Rashford’s sooner.
Interestingly, Lewandowski is currently sitting alongside Rashford in Barcelona’s dressing room.
Lewandowski spoke about how he criticizes the misconception that he is a selfish goal-getter. So was he surprised by the quality and character of Rashford, who arrived on loan from Old Trafford earlier this season after months of negative headlines?
“After a few training sessions, that’s not the case. He has a lot of potential,” Lewandowski said. “He has it all: he has speed, he has technique, he has shot, he has left foot, he has right foot, he has skill…
“But Marcus is a great guy. If you give him confidence and he sees that you believe in him, he will give you 200 percent back.
“He’s a very nice guy. We talked because we’re sitting next to each other in the dressing room. We also play table tennis. I think this guy is very kind and a very nice person, but you need someone to stand behind you.”
“If he has this confidence, he can really play his best football at the highest level.”
Important follow-up question: Who wins a table tennis match? “He got better, but he never won a match against me. We have to change the opponent!”
Lewandowski once again laughs loudly about his competitiveness.
That will to win, combined with the 12-time league champion’s know-how from his time in Germany and Spain, makes him a key element in Barcelona’s final game of the season. He suffered a fractured orbit in the game against Villarreal, but he won’t be sidelined for long.
“The season starts again,” Lewandowski said. “We have to be ready for the most important period at this point in the season.”
What is it that makes the difference in these moments?
“You always have to be ready. You always have to think, what can I do better, what can I do more? You have to think about your football 24 hours a day. You always have to feel hungry for more.”
Lewandowski’s thirst for scoring and winning remains insatiable.
Robert Lewandowski stars in global luxury lifestyle brand Mackage’s latest Protect Your Craft campaign, celebrating individuals who have elevated their craft to the level of art through mastery, discipline and creative vision.
