UEFA Champions League: Ballon d’Or favorite Robert Lewandowski breaks Messi, Ronaldo’s record, marks his 100th appearance with a phenomenal hat-trick- Robert Lewandowski has been hailed as one of the best strikers of his generation by many. He has proved his worth yet again as he marked a century of appearances in the competition by scoring a hat-trick against SL Benfica.
The German giants Bayern Munich defeated SL Benfica 5-2 and became the first team to qualify to the knockout stages along with Juventus.
Robert Lewandowski Stats-
In total, Lewandowski has 81 goals in his 100 Champions League games, making him one of the competition’s most prolific players.
ℹ️ Quickest to 80 Champions League goals:
👕1⃣0⃣0⃣ Robert Lewandowski
👕1⃣0⃣2⃣ Lionel Messi
👕1⃣1⃣6⃣ Cristiano Ronaldo#UCL pic.twitter.com/iMVZN9F3Iw— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 2, 2021
Robert Lewandowski in UCL- He is only behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who have 139 and 123 goals respectively. Ronaldo, though, has played in 180 Champions League games while Messi has featured in the competition 152 times so far.
Lewandowski is also this season’s leading scorer, having scored eight goals in four games to start the group stage campaign.
.@ChampionsLeague | Bayern 5 x 2 Benfica
Lewandowski faz o hat trick e fecha o resultado 😮💨#ChampionsELEVEN pic.twitter.com/YwkYmwqPZq
— ELEVEN Portugal (@ElevenSports_PT) November 2, 2021
Lewandowski was named the 2020 World Player of the Year, beating off competition from six-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi and Portugal’s Ronaldo.
UEFA Champions League: Bayern vs Benfica Match Report
Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann said Robert Lewandowski will be aiming for 100 goals in the Champions League after the Poland striker scored a hat-trick in Tuesday’s 5-2 thrashing of Benfica.
On his 100th appearance in Europe’s elite club competition, Lewandowski’s treble made it 81 goals and counting as Bayern cruised into the knockout stage with two matches to spare.
Nagelsmann said people would be talking about Lewandowski’s hat-trick but what caught his eye was the “joy” the 33-year-old was playing with in the last half hour.
“He played in every offensive position, wanted to have every ball. He started good attacks … He always wants to score more goals,” he added.
“His numbers are impressive. Well, we are now aiming for him to score 100 Champions League goals. Maybe not this year, this will be a tight one. But he will achieve this hopefully.“
When asked to compare the three, Nagelsmann said: “I think it’s very difficult to compare because they are different types of players.
“I think all three were very impressive players over the last few years … I believe that Lewy can achieve a lot, also at an older age, because of his physique, lifestyle, and the way he lives as a footballer.“
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