Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski has failed to score in the last two league matches. By his standards, that’s already a slump for the first non German player to win four top scorer’s accolades. He is by far the best scoring foreigner to ever grace the Bundesliga, and with 28 goals already this season, the question out there is whether we are once again going to write a new leaf in the Pole’s Bundesliga story.
Lewandowski stands tall among the best scoring talents to ever grace the German topflight, and having him as a probable scorer, in previews on SportyTrader football prediction site is rarely a surprise. He is currently the league’s lead scorer this season and has topped the charts in each of the earlier four seasons.
So, who are the all time best scorers in the Bundesliga?
Gerd Muller: The former Germany star is an out and out Bundesliga legend, and carries the gong for scoring the most goals in the league, at 365 goals in 427 matches. Muller had a minute per goal ratio of 105 during his time, featuring for Bayern Munich and was top scorer on five different seasons. In the 1971/72 season, he missed three penalties but still finished as top scorer with 40 goals, a record goals in one season that would only be broken four decades later.
Robert Lewandowski: The Polish international already has legendary status and is the only one still playing actively among the top five lead scorers in Bundesliga. Lewandowski comes second on this list, with 305 goals to his name, having played 374 league matches. At 99, his minutes per goal ratio is also the best and with four top scorer’s gongs, he can still catch up with Muller and even surpass him on the lead scorers’ list. Last season, he scored 41 goals to topple Muller’s record for the most goals in a season. He has so far featured for Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
Klaus Fischer: Another legend of the Bundesliga, Fischer featured for four sides in the German topflight – 1860 Munich, Schalke, Cologne and Bochum, playing 535 matches and going on to score 268 goals. His minutes per goal ratio of 173 is the longest among the top five but he has one attribute that may be hard to beat – he is the only one among the top five to have featured for at least 500 games, all spread around 19 seasons. He however won the top scorer’s gong just once, in the 1975/76 season. Fischer managed 20 or more goals in six different seasons.
Jupp Heyneckes: Known best as a manager after leading Bayern Munich to winning a treble, Heyneckes was also a lethal forward. He scored 220 goals in 369 Bundesliga games, placing him fourth on the top scorers’ list. As a player, his best spell came with Borussia Monchengladbach where he won four league titles and was twice a top scorer. He later had a short stint with Hannover.
Manfred Burgsmüller: Another top player to have graced the Bundesliga was Burgsmüller. He played for Rot-Weiß Essen, Borussia Dortmund, Nuremberg, and Werder Bremen and scored a combined 213 goals in 447 games for the teams. His minutes per goal ratio was 168 and he remains Borussia Dortmund’s all-time top scorer with 135 goals. He has one league title to his name.
