Speaking in an exclusive interview with Kicker, Poland international Robert Lewandowski discussed his scoring tally as he nears 200, his future at Bayern Munich and criticism he’s received suggesting he can’t do it on the big stage.
On potentially scoring his 200th goal against former club Borussia Dortmund:
200th Bundesliga goal against Dortmund? Every goal against a team like BVB is special, especially now that the title race is so close. 200 is a big number. When I moved to the Bundesliga in 2010, I never thought I would reach it. If I continue like this, I can score 50-60 goals in the next two seasons, 250 is possible. 300? Phew, that’s 100 more goals, so four more seasons of top performances. I’ll never say it’s impossible but right now, it’s still far away.
On the toughest defender he’s faced:
In the Champions League Sergio Ramos, a great defender not only defensively, but also with the ball. In the Bundesliga Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels. It was always a challenge and not easy to play against. Before, Carlos Zambrano, a very aggressive central defender.
On his Champions League critics:
In quarters & semis, I always scored at least once vs Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Juventus. Last year against Real, I played through injury and pain. Against Liverpool, I practically had no chances to score.
On that game vs Liverpool:
Liverpool were clearly better. But when you attack and concede, you can say ‘okay I tried.’ We could’ve risked more. It’s a shame. We analysed the mistakes together. We had scored six goals in the games before and after Liverpool, so why it didn’t work out? We had too few arguments going forward. We must learn from it in the future.
On his contract expiring in 2021 and his future:
There have been initial talks, but that will take a while, at the moment my focus is on the end of the season. But yes, I can very well imagine staying longer.
