Lewandowski rescued Bayern with a second-half winner in Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over bottom side Cologne as the league leaders struggled to break down a determined defence at the sold-out Allianz Arena.
“It is unbelievable that he is in the top 10 – he is simply a goal hunter,” Arturo Vidal said of his team-mate as Bayern went nine points clear at the top of the table.
The Poland international has now scored 21 goals in 24 games in all competitions this season, plus five more in World Cup qualifiers to help book Poland’s place in Russia.
Lewandowski’s goal against Cologne was his 166th since 2010 in Germany’s top flight — a tally achieved with Bayern and former club Borussia Dortmund.
He is in good company as Bayern head coach Jupp Heynckes is third on the list with 220 goals scored for Borussia Moenchengladbach and Hanover 96 between 1963 and 1978.
But Lewandowski is a distance off the record 365 goals scored by Bayern and West Germany legend Gerd Mueller.
The 72-year-old former World Cup winner, nicknamed ‘Der Bomber’, netted the phenomenal tally between 1964 and 1979 — and Lewandowski is not even halfway to that mark.
The 29-year-old Poland forward is also 25 goals short of becoming the highest-scoring active player in Germany.
Veteran Peru striker Claudio Pizarro, 39, now at Cologne, has scored 191 goals over multiple stints at Bayern and Werder Bremen.
Lewandowski has twice lifted the ‘Golden Cannon’ trophy, awarded to the Bundesliga’s top scorer, and narrowly missed out to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang last season despite a return of 30 goals in 33 league games.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
