How the Bayern defense gets ready to face box-monster Lewandowski

Berlin (Germany), Sep 12 (IANS) Robert Lewandowski’s goal record couldn’t be more impressive ahead of the delicate group encounter against his former side Bayern Munich.

Having scored 89 Champions League goals makes the 34-year-old Pole one of the competition’s most successful scorers, including 69 he scored for the 2020 treble winner.

The Pole has scored 49 times since the 2017-18 season, outpacing Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema at 35.

Preparation of Bayern’s defenders seems intense in advance of Tuesday’s group encounter.

It is an open secret that the Bavarian defenders around Matthijs de Ligt, Benjamin Pavard, Lucas Hernandez, Dayot Upamecano, and keeper Manuel Neuer undergo advanced training to be updated when it comes to the Barca spearheads, reports Xinhua.

Considering Lewandowski’s 67 goals scored from inside the box, it is said to be one of Bayern’s main issues to keep their former striker out of their box or keep close contact with two players.

The Pole has developed over the years into what is seen as a playing striker highly involved in his team’s field actions including free kicks, with 68.1 percent of his goals scored out of ordinary playing action.

To keep Lewandowski off the ball as often as possible, Bayern is considering a high amount of ball possession.

Interesting for Neuer might be that 80 percent of his former teammate’s goals came as a flat shot around 50 percent either right or left, and the rest hit the net through the middle.

De Ligt is said to care for control in the air and keep an eye on the Pole’s heading skills.

Former Bayern defender Jerome Boateng hopes Bayern can benefit from the experience of hundreds of training sessions with Lewandowski over the past eight years.

Nevertheless, the move to Barca doesn’t seem to have stopped the forward’s goal hunger.

He became the first player in Champions League history to have scored a hat-trick in a single game for three different clubs when the Spanish side crushed underdog Viktoria Plzen 5-1 last week.

–IANS

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