?? 5⃣1⃣ goals in 2019 for club & country! FOUR-goal hero Robert Lewandowski becomes #UCL top scorer ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/W72vKZJJO2
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 26, 2019
There is a long-held misconception that 31 years of age is old for a modern football striker. But despite this myth being shattered again and again, we often hear talk of forwards over 30 being past their prime or in the twilight of their careers.
Age is just a number
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 21 goals for Juventus last season, aged 34. But even he was outgunned by 36-year-old veteran Fabio Quagliarella who netted 26 times for Sampdoria to become Serie A’s top scorer. Diego Milito, Antonio Di Natale and Alessandro Del Piero all excelled in their 30s in Italy, as did Francesco Totti who netted 125 times after entering the fourth decade of his life.
At the age of 32, Lionel Messi shows no signs of letting up, having broken the 30-goal barrier in La Liga for the ninth time last season to take his total goals scored in all competitions for the 2018/19 campaign to 54, which earned him a sixth golden boot in the process, as reported by https://www.theguardian.com/football.
Lewandowski on fire
But one man who seems to be getting even better with age is Robert Lewandowski. The 31-year-old has already scored 16 Bundesliga goals from 12 games and 10 Champions League goals from five matches in the 2019/20 campaign. That’s 26 goals from 17 games to start the season - an incredible strike rate by any standards. And after a shaky start to the season, Bayern Munich are favourites to land another league crown, as you can see from the latest betting news at https://betting.betfair.com/football/.
Among the greats
In an era where Messi and Ronaldo have dominated, the Bayern Munich striker is sometimes overlooked, but his pursuit of goal-scoring perfection is relentless and should be celebrated on equal terms. He is about to break the 400 career goals barrier having played just 594 games - a 67% strike rate. That’s not far behind Ronaldo who has a strike rate of 74%, while both are well short of Messi who has an incredible goal to games hit rate of 85%.
If the Polish international continues at his current rate, he could be on target for his best season ever and could increase his percentage further. And who knows? By the age of 34, he could have a goal-scoring record similar to Ronaldo’s.
After scoring four in his side’s 6-0 Champions League demolition of Red Star Belgrade, the striker admitted being addicted to scoring goals.
I have to confess....I am addicted to scoring goals ?⚽⚽⚽⚽ @FCBayern
— Robert Lewandowski (@lewy_official) November 26, 2019
The elusive Champions League medal
Lewandowski is now in his sixth season at Bayern Munich but still has one notable trophy missing from his honour’s list - the Champions League. He reached the final in 2012/13 with Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund but lost to his current employers, as covered by https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/. Bayern have failed to reach those heights since, despite having broken their managerial wage record to bring Pep Guardiola to Germany for three seasons in 2013.
But with the striker maturing like a vintage wine - and with Bayern Munch having won four-straight games, scoring 16 and conceding zero under interim boss Hans-Dieter Flick - other teams in Europe’s elite competition will be fearful of facing the German club and their lethal marksman.