A prolific, almost prototypical striker, Robert Lewandowski is no stranger to scoring goals. And lots of them. Throughout his career with various Polish league teams, Borussia Dortmund and, of course, Bayern Munich, the Pole has racked the goals up–337, to be exact. His thriving as arguably the greatest soccer player in Polish history, and one of the best pure strikers the world has ever seen, is an outright certainty.
Lewandowski’s latest three back-netters–coming in an almost effortless hat trick unleashed upon RB Salzburg (+1150 consensus underdogs) in a 7-1 blowout during the Round of 16 of the Champions League–are another notch in his belt.
Sometimes, to accomplish anything, all you need is 23 minutes. That goes for watching a hit new episode of a show you love on TV, and for scoring hat tricks in one of the biggest soccer tournaments in the world.
Thankfully for Lewandowski, he can manage both taxing tasks.
Robert Lewandowski scored the earliest hat trick in UEFA Champions League history (23 minutes).
Lewandowski's 3 goals were scored in a 10 min., 24 second span to make it the fastest hat trick in #UCL KO Stage history. pic.twitter.com/UQXiaBZsAa
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 8, 2022
While this mark is impressive given the number of legends that have played in the UCL, Lewandowski scoring goals fast and in bunches isn’t a surprise to anyone who’s paid attention to his career.
Like, when he scored five goals in nine minutes as a second-half sub in 2015:
It’s astonishing to consider that we’ve come to a point in Lewandowski’s extensive ledger of accomplishments where three UCL goals, in 23 minutes as a starter, almost pale in comparison to his previous footnotes. But that’s the sort of player Lewandowski has always been. He’s forever capable of more greatness with one good touch of the ball.
With this hat trick, Lewandowski now possesses seven straight 40-goal campaigns as a member of Bayern Munich–the most all-time in the Bundesliga.
SEVEN consecutive seasons with 40+ goals for @lewy_official. 📈
Goal. Machine. 🤖#MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/kQcg932zoD
— 🇺🇸 FC Bayern US 🇨🇦 (@FCBayernUS) March 9, 2022
Now Bayern’s all-time leading scorer in greater Europe, he’s also surpassed the hallowed Gerd Muller.
Robert Lewandowski passes Gerd Müller to become Bayern's all-time leading scorer in Europe after his hat trick today ✨ pic.twitter.com/2CWnNQVvqN
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 8, 2022
You know you’re a living legend when the photo of the player you’ve surpassed looks like it’s in standard definition with an unnatural light.
As he often does, Lewandowski presents a tempting prospect. On a squad always in the hunt for championships, and which might be playing for its second Champion League title in three years this spring, Lewandowski will be the straw that stirs the drink. In the last seven seasons, with Lewandowski leading the goal charge, Bayern has qualified for the semifinals of the Champions League five times while winning the whole dance in 2020. Unprecedented consistent excellence, even for the premier team in Germany.
It’ll be a tall order to overcome other giants like Liverpool and Man City when the Champions League resumes in early April. But if any team can do it, if Bayern can do it, it’ll be because they have Lewandowski — a scorer the likes of which we’ve never seen.
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