Tuesday March 30th 2021
Striker threatens top game failure
How does Bavaria relieve the Lewandowski shock?
By Till Erdenberger
If Robert Lewandowski is missing, FC Bayern will be missing more than one player. The Pole is not replaceable, the lack of it can only be concealed. There are two approaches to this. The national coach recently rehearsed one of them for the record champions.
No, that really couldn’t happen: the indestructible-looking Robert Lewandowski, who was only spared once in the current super-stress season, which was specially charged for FC Bayern with various cup competitions (and was not at all pleased about it), threatens to start punctually the crucial phase of the season to fail. Investigations in Munich will show whether and for how long the world footballer, the over-goal hunter, the life insurance of his FC Bayern will be absent after a knee injury from the international match between Poland and Andorra.
The Polish association announced after the “accident” on Sunday evening that the outer ligament of the right knee had been damaged – and provided the usual treatment time for such cases: a five to ten day break. In the best case, that would mean a quick recovery from the Bundesliga top game on Saturday evening, in the worst case, the end for the encounter against RB Leipzig and the quarter-final first leg in the Champions League against the noble ensemble of Paris Saint-Germain three days later. Either way: Bayern coach Hansi Flick has to think about how he can solve the Lewandowski problem. Two variants are conceivable.
The 1: 1 solution with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
After 24 matchdays Lewandowski has already scored 35 goals, Gerd Müller’s fabulous record of 40 goals will fall this season. Anything else is unimaginable, given the quality of Lewandowski and his course. Even if he were to be thrown out of step for a moment. The Poland’s goals are particularly important for FC Bayern this season, because all too often many have to come here: The 2020/21 series champions have already fallen behind 13 times, and they made 22 points out of the mortgage. Long gone are the days when FC Bayern won their championships with 67 goals (2006) because Michael Ballack reliably headed to the late 1-0 at some point.
It is quite possible that many goals will have to be scored again against Leipzig in order to save the tolerably comfortable lead of four points over the last remaining pursuers – or at least to extend it. The first leg ended after a wild ride 3: 3, at that time curiously without a Lewandowski goal. If the Pole fails, Leipzig will be the only Bundesliga team he hasn’t scored against this season.
Then Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting might have to step in. The Cameroonian had been directed to Munich for precisely these moments in a concerted transfer campaign shortly before the gate closed. As a 1: 1 backup for Lewandowski. Choupo-Moting has accepted his role well, especially outside the field, without complaint, he stands ready in the second row for the opportunities that Lewandowski almost never gives him. If Flick does not want to change his existing formation, Choupo-Moting will appear in Leipzig from the start. Most recently he met in the Champions League against Lazio. Just moments after he came on for Lewandowski. The round of 16 duel had long since been decided. When it comes to a lot, there has so far been a lack of confidence in the skills of the second representation. However, it wasn’t necessary to rely on his services in crunchtime.
An advantage of the 1: 1 solution would be that Flick would not have to flood his offensive with trained wingers and could instead bring one of the goal-threatening wingers off the bench. Because the alternative to the Choupo-Moting variant would be a wild attack vortex without a real striker.
The DFB solution with Serge Gnabry
If Flick lacks confidence in Choupo-Moting – or if he is more convinced that he can put Leipzig better in a new formation, he could rely on the formally strong Serge Gnabry at the top. Joachim Löw had recently worked through the solution successfully in the World Cup qualification against Romania, Gnabry scored the winning goal from the center forward position. If Gnabry moves from the wing to the top at Bayern, Kingsley Coman and Leroy Sané would probably occupy the flanks, Thomas Müller is everywhere anyway and as an omnipresent reference station and master builder, the door opener for the Bayern offensive.
With this high-speed variant, Flick deprived himself of a boost of freshness from the bank, because his dangerous filigree runabouts were all already on the pitch at kick-off. Nevertheless: The Gnabry solution is likely to be the more likely one. Either way: “Bayern will get a powerful team on the pitch even without Lewandowski,” said RB sports director Markus Krösche of “Bild”. And yet: Robert Lewandowski will be absent from FC Bayern. When he’s missing.
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