Lewandowski leaves Bayern at the top of his game

As Robert Lewandowski sprints into Wolfsburg's box, he's met with a fairly ordinary cross. But in a split-second the Pole checks his run, shapes his body, and nestles a perfect volley into the net.

Every fan has Pep Guardiola's stunned face etched into their brain. The only appropriate reaction to a fifth goal in nine minutes.

Lewandowski has conjured up countless jaw-dropping feats, but so far this has been the defining moment of his career. It was the catalyst which spurred him on to become one of Bayern's, the Bundesliga's, and the world's greatest ever strikers.

Since then, he's scored 40-plus goals in seven consecutive campaigns, he's broken Gerd Müller's long-standing record of 41 goals in a single Bundesliga season and has won everything available with Bayern Munich.

And he's not done. When the league season starts, Lewandowski will be in a Barcelona shirt, nearing his 34th birthday, aiming to eclipse his most illustrious achievements.

Denied Ballon d'Or, named FIFA's Best

His consummate professionalism — he attended Bayern training even while his departure from the club neared — and drive to improve have seen him improve with age.

Individually and as part of the Bayern collective, he has nothing left to prove. In 2019-20, he netted an incredible 55 goals as Bayern won the treble, netting 15 of those in the Champions League to seal what had been the only piece of silverware that had eluded him.

Ludicrously denied the Ballon d'Or, he was duly named FIFA's Best Men's Player on the back of that season. It's truly difficult to gauge just how dominant this Bayern dynasty would have been without Lewandowski.

'Klopp slowed me down to speed me up'

Lewandowski has never stopped working, despite early setbacks. He was told he was too skinny while playing with Poland's U15s. When he was released by Legia Warsaw aged 17, he was forced to launch his career from the lower divisions.

"How he pushed himself to become the player he is today is extraordinary," once said Jürgen Klopp, who signed him for Borussia Dortmund in 2010.

Lewandowksi was instrumental in the Dortmund side which twice pipped Bayern to the Bundesliga title, and he truly announced himself with a hat-trick against his future employers in the 2012 German Cup final. 

Lewandowski has had the honor of learning from two of the world's best coaches, too. Under Klopp he honed his ability to build attacks as a No.10, and perfect his shooting. "He slowed me down to speed me up. It sounds simple, but it was genius, really."

And when Pep Guardiola brought him to Bayern, his positional awareness thrived."He taught me so many things specific to football — tactics, moving with the ball, game structure."

He also worked under an old head, Jupp Heynckes, and an innovator in Hansi Flick, as his inner obsession to constantly expand his repertoire to become a complete striker only increased.

"It's not just his goals – he works really hard and is always in the right position… he also starts a lot of attacks," said Flick.

He's scored 20% of his Bayern goals with his left foot and in the past few seasons he's increased his aerial threat (39 goals in the past 4 seasons compared with 36 in the previous 8).

'The most professional player I've ever met'

Unlike so many stars in the game, he's also never had a team built around him. He arrived at Bayern simply to act as a cog in Guardiola's carefully curated system and bought into that team-first mentality.

His dedication to fitness is legendary, with carefully crafted dietary rules (dessert first, protein last) and strict sleeping habits (from eliminating light, to lying on his left side). His injury record is incredibly clean, and a large reason Bayern have been so successful is that they've never had to go long without their main striker.

He's only missed more than two consecutive matches through injury on three occasions, the longest stretch being six games in the 2020-21 season.

"What impresses me most about him is his professionalism, ambition, passion, hunger, and fitness," Heynckes said of his number nine.

Guardiola concurred: "He's the most professional player I've ever met. He thinks about the right food, sleep and training, 24 hours a day."

Lewandowski's final chapter

Bayern won't have a plan to replace him, because there can be no ready-made, legitimate blueprint to replace such a player.

He leaves the Bundesliga falling short of Müller's record 365 goals. But he also departs as its most prolific, with his 312 goals coming every 99 minutes, on average.

His move to La Liga is down entirely to his own ambitions and motivations, however, the view from the outside that he's enjoyed the status of a flat-track bully in the Bundesliga, will certainly be in the back of his mind.

Lewandowski has nothing left to prove, he's won it all. But he does now have the opportunity to add to his legacy as one of the game's greatest ever strikers.

Edited by: Michael Da Silva