Berlin: ‘Crazy’ and ‘unbelievable’ were the superlatives flying around German football yesterday after Robert Lewandowski’s stunning five-goal haul in nine Bundesliga minutes for Bayern Munich.
Bayern were 1-0 down at home to Wolfsburg on Tuesday when Lewandowski came off the bench to turn the game and write football history as a string of Bundesliga records fell in quick succession.
He managed his hat-trick in three minutes, 22 seconds, four in 5:42 and his fifth goal came after just 8:59 -- all league records which were achieved within the 51st and 60th minutes.
Three of the goals were grabbed from point-blank range, but the second was a superb long-rang strike and Poland’s star saved the best for last with a superb volley into the top left-hand corner.
In its 52-year history, the Bundesliga has seen nothing like it.
“I was in the stadium and I couldn’t believe my eyes,” ex-Germany captain Lothar Matthaeus told Sky Sports. “It was simply crazy.”
It was the first time five goals have been scored in a single German league match since Michael Toennies in August 1991 in a 6-2 win for Duisburg against Karlsruhe – but that was achieved in 57 minutes.
Lewandowski’s feat is on a par with 1970s stars Dieter Mueller, the only player to have scored six goals in a Bundesliga match, and Gerd Mueller, who scored five goals on four occasions for Bayern – but never so fast.
“He (Lewandowski) was where Gerd Mueller was, he was always in the right place at the right time,” said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
Lewandowski, 27, admitted being amazed by how fast his goals flew in, but had been hungry for more.
“After the fifth goal I thought, ‘I’ll try to shoot another goal’,” which he nearly achieved on 68 and 80 minutes as clear chances went begging.
As his captain Philipp Lahm put it: “He could have gone home with seven goals” while Thomas Mueller said Lewandowski had inspired those around him.
“It was like the whole team was unleashed,” said the Germany forward.
Dieter Mueller, 61, watching the game at home, started shaking when he realised his record was under serious threat having scored six goals for Cologne in a 7-2 league win against Bremen in August 1977.
“I started shaking, because my pulse went up,” said Mueller.
“Normally, he would have scored the sixth, but it wasn’t to be.”
Mueller said Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller are the names most likely to break his record.
“I’m proud of my record, it’s a bit out of the ordinary. “We used to say it was a record for eternity, but now it seems just a matter of time.
“Thomas Mueller is perhaps also able to do it, I’d trust him to do it.
“I have always said it can only be someone from Bayern, they have an exceptional team.”
Amazingly, Lewandowski, who joined Bayern for the 2014/15 season, only made his mark in the Bundesliga thanks to injury to Paraguay striker Lucas Barrios while at Borussia Dortmund.
Having started the first 13 league matches of the 2010/11 season as Barrios’s understudy, Lewandowski seized his chance with 22 goals in 34 league games for Dortmund the following season.
Lewandowski wrote himself into Champions League folklore by becoming the first player to score four goals in a semi-final when Borussia routed Real Madrid 4-1 in Dortmund in April 2013.
With eight goals in five games now, Lewandowski is the league’s top scorer, while Thomas Mueller has six from six.
Bayern host Dortmund in a mouth-watering league clash on October 4 which pitches ‘Lewangoalski’ against his former club.
“Lewandowski has written Bundesliga history, not just just yesterday, but for a few years,” pointed out Matthaeus.
“Wolfsburg was Bayern’s number one chaser before this season, but now Dortmund has got into the mix and will probably stay there.”AFP
