Robert Lewandowski is finally the undisputed best No9 in the world
By Nick Elliott
Updated: 21st June 2020, 11:55 am
It's been a long time coming.
Robert Lewandowski is finally the undisputed best No9 on the planet.
It's likely he has been the best striker in the world at some point before, but Luis Suarez's relentless pursuit has restricted the Pole from claiming the unofficial title without dispute.
With the Uruguayan suffering a noticeable decline and Lewandowski arguably in the form of his life, Bayern's prolific poacher now deserves to be celebrated as the standalone best at what he does.
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There will be some of you who put forward other names: Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero… Erling Haaland.
None are in Lewandowski's bracket this season.
The 31-year-old has scored 48 goals in all competitions for Bayern Munich in 2019/20.
He scored in each of his first nine Bundesliga fixtures to get the ball rolling, a ball that has stampeded to 33 league goals, the most for a non-German in a single Bundesliga campaign.
Timo Werner is his closest competitor domestically — the soon-to-be Chelsea forward has 26 goals, an impressive tally but the Golden Boot (or Torjagerkanone as it is known in Germany) has been a one-horse race.
Fading powers
In previous years it would be fair to partially discredit Lewandowski's form by suggesting it's easy to play centre-forward in a team who dominate their league.
However, Bayern are did not cruise in their customary fashion for the first two thirds of the season and were largely carried by Lewandowski's prolific finishing.
His rampant scoring hasn't been contained to domestic football either.
He's scored 11 goals in the Champions League, more than anyone else, averaging a goal every 48 minutes.
This European form allowed him to overtake Ruud van Nistelrooy to become the fifth top scorer in Champions League history, before drawing level with Karim Benzema as equal fourth on 64 goals.
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Spurs were ticked off the hit list
His brilliance has not bee contained to club football either; a hat-trick against Latvia in a European Championship qualifier took him to 60 Poland goals — he has since made it 61.
He's currently the fifth highest active scorer in international football.
It sounds foolish to say, given the unwavering consistency with which he has plundered goals in the last decade, but Lewandowski's current form in 2019/20 came as something of a surprise.
40 goals from 47 games in 2018/19 is undeniable but he looked under par and squandered a few chances you'd expect him to bury.
His league tally of 22 was his lowest since 2014/15 and his goals-to-game ratio for Poland was his worst since 2013.
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Goals in all formats
These hints of decline, coupled with Niko Kovac's unconvincing tactics, suggested he might slip into the normal realms of 20-30 goals a season.
Not only has he broken his own record for most goals in a season, he is heavy favourite to win the 2019/20 European Golden Boot.
And that's not insignificant, considering Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez's triopoly over the award has lasted 11 years.
At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, this could be the season that adds an extra layer to Lewandowski's legacy.