Der Klassiker: The titans of Germany clash at Allianz Arena
Bundesliga’s top two face off with Dortmund four points behind Bayern
Lewandowski leads the goalscorer’s chart in Bundesliga with 10 goals in six games but may need to outscore former teammate Aubemeyang, who has scored in his last nine league matches. PHOTO: AFP
BERLIN:
The Bundesliga’s goal-scoring titans are set to clash on Sunday when Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich runs out against Borussia Dortmund, who have Gabon goal-machine Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in their ranks.
Between them, the fleet-footed strikers have bagged 19 Bundesliga goals after seven matches this season and are battling for the ‘Golden Cannon’ — the award handed to the Bundesliga’s top-scorer.
Aubameyang has scored in each of Dortmund’s seven games this season, a Bundesliga record, while Lewandowski has netted a staggering 10 goals in his last three games.
The Poland hot-shot sent league records tumbling by grabbing five goals in just nine second-half minutes last week when he came off the bench to almost singe-handedly thrash Wolfsburg in a 5-1 defeat.
He then passed the mark for 100 Bundesliga goals with two more in Bayern’s 3-0 win at Mainz last Saturday and claimed a hat-trick in Tuesday’s 5-0 win against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
“He’s on an amazing run and he’s had an unbelievable week,” said Bayern’s captain Philipp Lahm, who was only half joking when he added he expects a hat-trick from Lewandowski in every match.
The Poland striker has already claimed 17 goals for both club and country this season and threatens to score more in Sunday’s Bayern-Dortmund clash, which the German media dub ‘Der Klassiker’.
Not to be outdone, Aubameyang took his tally to nine goals from seven games, just one behind Lewandowski, in the 2-2 draw against Darmstadt last Sunday and is eyeing more against Bayern.
When asked whether he can overtake Lewandowski in the scoring chart this season, Aubameyang chuckled, “That will be difficult, my friend”.
Apart from Bayern’s Thomas Muller, who has scored a perfectly respectable six goals in seven matches, Gabon’s Aubameyang seems the only one capable of denying Lewandowski this season’s Golden Cannon.
Of all the big name forwards to have played in the Bundesliga, including Lewandowski, no other player has scored in each of the seven games at the start of a German league season.
The next club record on Aubameyang’s horizon is held by Lewandowski himself. The Polish forward scored in 12 successive league matches for Dortmund in the 2012/13 season.
Aubameyang is currently on nine, stretching back to last season.
He famously donned a Batman mask after scoring against rivals Schalke, last February, while Marco Reus wore a Robin mask after Dortmund’s dynamic duo both scored in the 3-0 home win. And Dortmund will need all their heroes to be on form at the Allianz Arena.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2015.
The Bundesliga’s goal-scoring titans are set to clash on Sunday when Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich runs out against Borussia Dortmund, who have Gabon goal-machine Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in their ranks.
Between them, the fleet-footed strikers have bagged 19 Bundesliga goals after seven matches this season and are battling for the ‘Golden Cannon’ — the award handed to the Bundesliga’s top-scorer.
Aubameyang has scored in each of Dortmund’s seven games this season, a Bundesliga record, while Lewandowski has netted a staggering 10 goals in his last three games.
The Poland hot-shot sent league records tumbling by grabbing five goals in just nine second-half minutes last week when he came off the bench to almost singe-handedly thrash Wolfsburg in a 5-1 defeat.
He then passed the mark for 100 Bundesliga goals with two more in Bayern’s 3-0 win at Mainz last Saturday and claimed a hat-trick in Tuesday’s 5-0 win against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
“He’s on an amazing run and he’s had an unbelievable week,” said Bayern’s captain Philipp Lahm, who was only half joking when he added he expects a hat-trick from Lewandowski in every match.
The Poland striker has already claimed 17 goals for both club and country this season and threatens to score more in Sunday’s Bayern-Dortmund clash, which the German media dub ‘Der Klassiker’.
Not to be outdone, Aubameyang took his tally to nine goals from seven games, just one behind Lewandowski, in the 2-2 draw against Darmstadt last Sunday and is eyeing more against Bayern.
When asked whether he can overtake Lewandowski in the scoring chart this season, Aubameyang chuckled, “That will be difficult, my friend”.
Apart from Bayern’s Thomas Muller, who has scored a perfectly respectable six goals in seven matches, Gabon’s Aubameyang seems the only one capable of denying Lewandowski this season’s Golden Cannon.
Of all the big name forwards to have played in the Bundesliga, including Lewandowski, no other player has scored in each of the seven games at the start of a German league season.
The next club record on Aubameyang’s horizon is held by Lewandowski himself. The Polish forward scored in 12 successive league matches for Dortmund in the 2012/13 season.
Aubameyang is currently on nine, stretching back to last season.
He famously donned a Batman mask after scoring against rivals Schalke, last February, while Marco Reus wore a Robin mask after Dortmund’s dynamic duo both scored in the 3-0 home win. And Dortmund will need all their heroes to be on form at the Allianz Arena.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2015.