Robert Lewandowski - The Most Underrated Striker Of His Generation

There has often been a debate about who is the best number nine in this past generation of footballers, and it usually ends up with just four or five options: Harry Kane, Karim Benzema, Luis Suarez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Robert Lewandowski. Sometimes it will be narrowed down to three, removing Ibrahimovic and Kane due to their different ages and usually football fans settle on Suarez, but this article will explain why that is not the case.

Lewandowski’s Career In Poland

Lewandowski started out his career in his native Poland in the lower divisions, playing for local teams. In the 2006-7 season, he finished as the top scorer in the Polish third tier and earned promotion with Znicz Pruszkow. He repeated his goal scoring feat in the next season, scoring 21 and creating a hive of interest around him. He moved to Lech Poznan in the summer of 2008 for £300,000 having been rejected by Sporting Gijon, whom he had been offered to by his agent.

🇵🇱 A young Robert Lewandowski turning out for Lech Poznan in 2009. pic.twitter.com/mHHMzvpysZ

— Forgotten Football Clubs (@_forgottenfooty) October 26, 2023

The young striker spent two years at Lech Poznan and helped the side win the top division title in 2010, finishing as the league’s top scorer again. Poznan view him as a club legend despite the short amount of time spent at the club, as he managed 41 goals in all competitions and won three trophies during his time there. In the summer of 2010, Lewandowski was close to agreeing a deal with Blackburn Rovers, however according to manager Sam Allardyce a volcanic eruption in Iceland stopped him from travelling and he was subsequently bought by Borussia Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund

After moving to Dortmund for around £4m, Lewandowski struggled to get into the starting XI for a while, instead having to settle for substitute appearances. He managed to bag eight league goals in his debut campaign, but the next year he benefited from an injury to starting striker Lucas Barrios. From the start of the season up until the winter break, he was ever present in the starting XI and demonstrated his ability in front of goal.

23-year-old Robert Lewandowski for Borussia Dortmund during the 2011/12 season:

☑️47 games
⚽️30 goals
🅰️12 assists
📊directly involved in a goal every 97 minutes

The first great season in Germany for the Polish GOAT. 🇵🇱 pic.twitter.com/j66xcc1Eqw

— Football Talent Scout - Jacek Kulig (@FTalentScout) February 27, 2025

The 2011-12 season was a historic one for Dortmund, as they won their first ever league double. Lewandowski was at the forefront of it all, as he finished as the top goalscorer in both the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal with a total of 29 goals across both competitions. In total, he won four trophies with Dortmund and even reached a Champions League final, however they were beaten by league rivals Bayern Munich. Lewandowski left for free at the end of the 2013-14 season.

Bayern Munich

Most of Lewandowski’s legacy comes from his time at Bayern Munich, as do his goals and trophies. The Polish international started relatively slowly at the German giants, scoring just 25 goals in his debut campaign across all competitions, however that was followed by seven 40+ goal seasons, including two that broke the 50 mark. Lewandowski also won the Bundesliga in every season at Munich as well as three DFB-Pokals and one Champions League.

In 2020, he realistically should have won the Ballon d’Or, as he led Bayern to a historic treble, however due to COVID, the ceremony was cancelled and the award was not handed out. In the 2019-20 season, Bayern won the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal and the Champions League, with Lewandowski as top scorer in each. This makes him just the second player to win the treble whilst also being top scorer in all three competitions after Johan Cruyff.

🇵🇱 Lewandowski in 2019/20:

🏟️ 47 games
⚽️ 55 goals
🅰️ 10 assists

65 G/A in 47 games 🎯

🏆 Sextuple
🏆 Golden Boot
🏆 FIFA The Best
🏆 UEFA Best Men’s Player in Europe

France Football somehow didn’t give him the Ballon d’Or. pic.twitter.com/Mjczt4R1h9

— ` (@Pxxdwskiii) February 12, 2025

In 2022, Lewandowski made it clear that he wished to leave Bayern, but this was simply because he believed that he had nothing else to do at the club, rather than a case of forcing a move. Bayern were happy to let him go and made no attempts to hold onto him. He joined Barcelona in July of that year for around £45m.

Barcelona

Lewandowski has so far had two very impressive seasons in La Liga and is in the midst of his third. He became the first player to score a Champions League hattrick for three different clubs in September 2022, netting three times on his debut in that competition for Barcelona against Viktoria Plzen. By the end of his debut season in Barcelona, he finished as the league’s top scorer and won the La Liga title with them. His season contributed to many records, including becoming the joint leader in most ‘Top Scorer’ awards in Europe’s top five leagues alongside Lionel Messi.

Robert Lewandowski is having his best scoring season for Barcelona 🤜🤛 pic.twitter.com/zL8VEO0N6E

— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 2, 2025

In total, he has already scored 93 goals in Spain, in just 134 appearances with Barcelona. He is also on track to finish as the league’s top scorer again with 21 goals already this season. Barcelona have the chance to win a treble this season, as they are through to the quarter finals of the Champions League and have a semi final second leg in the Copa del Rey against Atletico Madrid in a couple of weeks. They are currently top of La Liga, level on points with Real Madrid but with a game in hand.

The Stats

According to the International Federation for Football History and Statistics, Lewandowski is the seventh highest goalscorer in top level professional football competitions, ahead of the likes of Gerd Muller, Luis Suarez, Karim Benzema and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. These statistics don’t take into account lower levels of football, including Lewandowski’s time in the second and third tiers of Polish football. His goal total is 709, and if all goals are included, he sits at number 15. His goals per game ratio is at 0.69, which is actually closer to Cristiano Ronaldo’s 0.72 than it is to Suarez (0.59), Ibrahimovic (0.58) and Benzema (0.52).

Overall, Lewandowski is by far the greatest striker of his generation and one of the best of all time alongside the likes of Ronaldo, Romario, Pele and Ferenc Puskas. Even now, at the age of 36, he is still one of the best strikers in the world, currently joint third in the race for the European Golden Shoe. Comparing him to the likes of Suarez is understandable, as the Uruguayan was a part of one of the greatest sides in football history, but in my opinion, Lewandowski is clear of the competition.