NEW DELHI: A 5-2 drubbing of Augsburg ensured Bayern Munich continued their indomitable grip as the most successful club in German football history by annexing the national crown 31 times and the 9th title consecutive title—an unbroken streak the club has maintained since 2013.
While the win is only a continuation of a brilliant spell the Bavarians had in 2020 where they won their 6th Champions League Title, outclassing the star-studded PSG and then UEFA Super Cup for the second time, edging out Sevilla 2-1. Earlier in February they got the better of Mexican Tigers UANL by a solitary goal to annex the FIFA Club World Cup. They became only the second club to win the sextuple, after Barcelona won it in 2009.
Bayern’s success comes from their attack, spearheaded by Robert Lewandowski, who notched up his 41st league goal of the campaign against Augsburg to eclipse the 49-year-old record set by German legend Gerd Muller. Muller averaged a goal every 77 minutes when he set the Bundesliga record in 1972, but Lewandowski did so with an average of a goal every 58 minutes. Lewandowski is the first player in the history of Bundesliga to become the top-scorer in four consecutive seasons. He scored 34, 22, and 29 goals in the last three seasons.
The 32-year-old Lewandowski is also the captain of the Polish side and is considered one of the best strikers of all time, scoring over 500 senior career goals for club and country. However, this year his feat will be extra special as he outpaced the biggest names in world football to win the European Golden Shoe.
Lewandowski held a commanding position in the standings with an astonishing 41 league goals from 29 appearances. Lionel Messi with 30 goals from 35 games makes the Argentine the Europe’s No 2 but the top scorer in the La Liga this season. Juventus star Christiano Ronaldo was one short of his Argentine rival. CR7’s 29 goals came from 33 games put him in a special league status as the only player to achieve the feat in the Premier League, La Liga and Italy’s Serie A. fourth best striker in Europe was credited to Eintracht Frankfurt’s Portuguese striker Andre Silva with 28, who is followed by the PSG’s flamboyant French sensation Kylian Mbappe with 27 and Borussia Dortmund’s 20-year-old Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland with a tally of 27 finishing fifth.