Robert Lewandowski announced himself as a UEFA Champions League Goal King in the most dramatic of fashions, on the most illustrious of evenings, against the most celebrated club in the competition’s history.
Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund became the story of the 2012-13 UCL season, when they were transformed from unfashionable outsiders into the neutral’s favourites.
Lewandowski was the protagonist throughout, his narrative ark peaking in the semi-final first-leg as he hit four goals against then nine-time UCL winners Madrid to secure what proved an unassailable 4-1 first-leg lead.
Those strikes were four of the 10 he hit in what was a personal-best UCL campaign, with only the competition’s all-time scorer Cristiano Ronaldo bettering Lewandowski’s return that season.
His first that evening was a poacher’s finish, diving to volley home a deep cross from close range. His second, a smart turn and neat finish from inside the confines the six-yard box. His third, a sublime drag-back to evade Pepe before unleashing a thunderous finish. His fourth arrived from the penalty spot, Lewandowski driving the ball straight down the middle in an illustration of his nerves of steel in front of goal.
It was the night that cemented the Pole's status as Europe’s most-wanted goal king. His emergence as one of the world’s top marksmen arrived during an era in which the role of the lone striker become more ubiquitous than ever before. He quickly became the benchmark against which all complete forwards are now judged.
All but one of his 30 UCL goals have arrived from inside the box, 22 with his right foot, three with his left, and four with his head, while one went in off his back, but it’s what he offers in addition to his goals that makes him so revered.
His supreme technique, movement, strength, athleticism and understanding of his role have allowed him to reproduce the devastating form he displayed for Klopp’s high-tempo, visceral Dortmund with the more intricate, cerebral, ‘classical’ approach of Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich. After hitting 17 goals in 28 UCL outings for BVB, he has raced to 13 in 19 since his 2014 switch to Bayern.
Lewandowski has proved to be the man for the big occasion time and time again, with 12 of his 30 UCL strikes arriving at the all-important knockout stage, while the same number have been priceless away goals.
The Poland international has had quite a journey from the teenager who was told he was too frail to make it in the game. Nicknamed ‘Bobek’ (beaver) for his industrious work ethic, his unrivaled commitment was exemplified during the beginnings of his career by the two-hour trips he would make to training and the First Communion he cut short in order to make an early kick-off.
There was no fairy-tale ending to Lewy’s four-goal haul in 2013, as his Dortmund side were defeated by Bayern in the final, but there is much more to come from this UEFA Champions League Goal King, who remains the first - and only - man to hit four goals in a semi-final.
Just three goals behind team-mate Thomas Muller and five behind Gerd Muller on Bayern’s list of all-time UCL goalscorers, Robert Lewandowski certainly hasn't finished writing his UEFA Champions League story just yet.
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