Lewandowski obliges: Equals but doesn’t erase Mueller’s record
GERD Mueller’s wife and Freiburg coach Christian Streich pleaded with Robert Lewandowski not to erase Mueller’s 49-year-old scoring record from the Bundesliga books.
The Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski obliged for now, converting a penalty in a 2-2 draw at Freiburg on Saturday to take his season tally to 40 goals, the same amount the former Munich great Mueller had achieved in 1971-72.
Mueller will be unaware of what happened because he is suffering from dementia and in a nursing home. His wife, Uschi Mueller, said this week that he wouldn’t begrudge Lewandowski for breaking the record but also made a small request that would have kept him in the books.
“Dear Robert Lewandowski, 40 goals are enough,” she said.
Streich struck a similar line Friday in order to preserve the record of his “hero” Mueller and because Lewandowski has “enough titles.”
Lewandowski also had Mueller on his mind when he celebrated his goal by revealing a t-shirt with a picture of Mueller and the writing “4ever Gerd” and got a guard of honour from team-mates and staff to mark the milestone. He then shockingly missed a sitter with 12 minutes left but has one more game to get sole possession of the record in next week’s season finale against Augsburg when he will secure a sixth Bundesliga top scorer crown, one less than Mueller’s seven.
Lewandowski finally got to share the record he already came close to in the past campaign with 34 goals.
His first season with 30 goals came in 2015-16 and famously included five within a span of nine minutes against Wolfsburg.
Mueller meanwhile had five seasons with 30 or more goals in his glittering career which saw him score 365.
No other Bundesliga player has scored 30 goals more than once in a season in the league’s 58-year history, with in fact only six other players reaching this mark.
Mueller’s overall record also appeared to be for eternity but some are not so sure now because Lewandowski has moved within 89 goals with a tally of 276 for second place since a 2010 Bundesliga arrival at Borussia Dortmund.
“Should Lewandowski play for Bayern for three more years without a major injury, Gerd Mueller’s record of 365 Bundesliga goals is also under threat,” former Munich great Paul Breitner said.
The 32-year-old - whose father was a junior European judo champion, mother a top flight volleyball player in Poland, and wife a former fudokan-karate world champion - is rarely injured and super fit which should allow him a few more years.
Lewandowski was at times considered egotistic but that has changed in recent years, and becoming a real team player has made him even more lethal.
“You must keep on staying calm and play for the whole team,” he recently said. “I must be grateful for being set up so often by my team-mates.”
Former Munich captain Lothar Matthaeus said on Sky: “Congratulations to Lewandowski. But he also has a great team with him.”
Lewandowski has won everything from World Footballer to all club trophies with Munich, and last won the 2020 Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup treble by finishing top scorer in all three events.
Lewandowski once put four goals behind Real Madrid in a 2013 Champions League semifinal while still at Dortmund, and is also the most successful scorer in Poland’s national team with 66 goals.
He could still equal or better Dieter Mueller’s Bundesliga record of six goals in one game, but chasing Cristiano Ronaldo (134 goals) and Lionel Messi (120) in the Champions League appears impossible although he has moved to third all-time with 73 goals.