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Bayern Munich saw their star striker, Robert Lewandowski, move on to pastures new over the summer after the Polish icon secured his move to Barcelona. The 34-year-old was a prolific marksman for Bayern and, judging by the start the Bavarian giants have made to the new season, it might take time to adapt to life after Lewandowski.
Lewandowski Goals Hard To Replace
Rated as one of the best strikers in world football, it was always going to be difficult to replace Lewandowski’s goals at the Allianz Arena. The former Borussia Dortmund star will go down as one of the best goalscorers the Bundesliga has ever witnessed, after scoring 312 goals in 384 appearances in the German top flight.
The man from Warsaw has also established himself as one of the best forwards on the international stage after scoring 76 goals in his first 134 appearances for Poland. His country will be relying on his abilities once again this winter, with Poland currently priced at 10/11 in the FIFA World Cup odds to qualify from Group C at the tournament in Qatar. Based on his form over the last few seasons, if Poland can go through to the knockout stages, Lewandowski should be in the conversation for the Golden Boot in Qatar.
Having scored an impressive 110 goals in just 94 games in his last three seasons at Bayern, Lewandowski decided to take on a new challenge at the Camp Nou with Barcelona. The forward got his dream move to the Catalan giants and has already hit the ground running in his new environment with the Blaugrana. With eight goals in his first six La Liga appearances, Lewandowski has made the transition from Bayern to Barca look simple. Three goals also in his first two Champions League appearances for Barcelona have shown his new set of adoring supporters what to expect from him in the coming seasons.
A Stuttering Start in Post-Lewandowski Era
FC Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann is now having to adapt to life without Lewandowski at the Allianz Arena and it has proved to be a tricky start. In their seven Bundesliga games before September’s international break, Bayern managed just three wins. A 1-0 defeat at Augsburg before the break showed the lack of cutting edge that has hurt Bayern at the start of the season.
The 6-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt and 7-0 victory over Bochum have boosted Bayern’s figures when it comes to goals scored in their first seven league games. However, four goals in their last four games before the first international break was well below what is expected of the reigning champions. Four games without a win in that spell saw Bayern sit down in fifth place in the Bundesliga standings after those first seven games.
Lewandowski’s Exit Does Give Others A Chance
Bayern is likely to look at strengthening in attack over the coming transfer windows but there are already players with a bright future at the club. The 19-year-old striker Jamal Musiala has made a bright start to the season and has found the back of the net four times in his first seven league outings. That made Musiala the club’s leading goalscorer before the break, with big summer signing Sadio Mane a goal behind with three. Liverpool certainly seems to be missing their former forward Mane after their own stuttering starts to the league campaign and the Senegalese star is likely to be a great addition to the squad at the Allianz Arena.
Mane is a great player but will play a different role in the Bayern team than Lewandowski. Tending to play in the wider channels, Bayern would have hoped to have had the pair working together for the club’s cause this season. Their paths were not to overlap for long and now Mane will carry plenty of responsibility to get the goals needed to help Bayern climb back up the Bundesliga standings.
Bayern has had slow starts to seasons in the past but this time they will be really tested to turn their fortunes around without Lewandowski to come up with magical moments week in and week out.
