Robert Lewandowski (foto: Getty Images)
Robert Lewandowski returns to Signal Iduna Park as a rejuvenated force, with 29 goals against Borussia Dortmund and a record-breaking season within reach.
Robert Lewandowski returns to Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday night, no longer the rising star who left Borussia Dortmund at 25, but a 36-year-old veteran chasing new milestones in the Champions League.
The Barcelona striker has scored 10 goals in his last 14 visits to Dortmund and is hoping to add to that tally in the second leg of the quarter-final. He failed to score in the first leg in December but has historically tormented his former club, netting 29 times in 29 matches against them since leaving for Bayern Munich in 2014.
“I was a young lad with the mindset of a veteran. Now I’m a veteran with the energy of a young lad,” Lewandowski reportedly told his inner circle, ahead of what will be his 15th match as a visitor to the stadium he once called home.
The Pole has already scored 40 goals this season for Barcelona — a figure that mirrors his lowest tally during his Bayern prime and far surpasses his best single-season mark with Dortmund, which was 36 in 2012/13.
Lewandowski is just two goals shy of becoming a centurion for Barcelona in just 141 games, having already reached the milestone with Bayern (344 goals in 375 games) and Dortmund (103 in 187).
He has already eclipsed his best Champions League season with BVB (10 goals in 2012/13) by scoring 11 goals in this campaign. His personal record in the competition stands at 15 goals in a single edition, set during the 2019/20 season, and he is eyeing that target again.
This season is officially his seventh-best ever in terms of goal output. Just one more goal will tie his sixth-best mark, and three more will equal his fourth-best. His all-time best, the famous 55-goal haul in 2019/20, remains a long shot — but not impossible for a striker who continues to redefine longevity.
With 11 goals and 1 assist in his last 7 games against Niko Kovac's Dortmund, all eyes will be on Lewandowski when he takes the pitch on Tuesday — especially from the stands of a stadium that knows all too well what he’s capable of.