Any top team, including FC Barcelona, has almost always had an elite striker leading the charge for them. While there are exceptions to the rule that can be adjusted with tactical switches, perhaps nothing beats a good old-fashioned number ‘9’. However, except for a few teams like Barcelona themselves, finding players with that particular profile is becoming difficult.
Fortunately for the Catalan giants, they have one of the world’s very best still at their disposal. Despite being aged 36, Robert Lewandowski remains a force to be reckoned with both in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League when it comes to scoring goals for fun, something that even changed the club’s mind about possibly needing a replacement.
However, while it is true that the Polish ace has almost always been a true freak of nature when it comes to topping scoring charts, every coach has managed to bring out a different version of him that has, in turn, made use of his qualities to varying degrees over his career.
As highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, however, the coach who has managed to bring out the very best goalscoring version out of him has undoubtedly been Hansi Flick. Formerly his mentor at Bayern Munich and now his coach at Barcelona, the two have a rather long and successful history.
Statistically, Lewandowski has thus far scored 102 goals in the 87 appearances he has made under the guidance of Hansi Flick, including his time at Barcelona and previously at Bayern Munich. With an average that exceeds 1.1 goals per game, it is safe to say that these numbers are nothing short of extraordinary.
The most amount of goals that he has ever scored under any coach, however, is his tally of 103 goals that he scored under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund. However, reaching that impressive tally took him 187 games, meaning that it took him an extra hundred appearances to score almost the exact same number of goals that he has managed in 87 games under Hansi Flick.
Interestingly, the Polish ace has played under the mentorship of several of the world’s most acclaimed football coaches. The likes of Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Julian Nagelsmann, Xavi Hernandez, Jupp Heynckes, and Niko Kovac are just some of the managers who have had the chance to coach the striker but have been unable to get him to produce the kind of numbers that Flick has managed out of him.
Needing just one more goal to match the 103 goal tally he had under Jurgen Klopp, Lewandowski is in luck as he looks set to start the next game against Real Sociedad as well. With 14 goals in La Liga so far this season, Lewandowski will be hoping to add even more to his already impressive tally.
