COLOGNE — Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski got a hat trick to make it 300 Bundesliga career goals as he steered them to a 4-0 win at Cologne on Saturday that restored a six-point lead at the top.
The Bavarians, chasing a record-extending 10th consecutive league title, bounced back from last week's loss to Borussia Moenchengladbach and have 46 points from 19 games with Dortmund in second place on 40.
DORTMUND — Top scorer Robert Lewandowski scored twice, including a second-half penalty, to guide the German champions to a crucial 3-2 victory at title rivals Borussia Dortmund on Saturday and a four-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.
The Pole opened his account in the ninth minute to level after Dortmund had taken an early lead through Julian Brandt, and then converted a 77th-minute spot kick to seal victory with his 16th goal of the campaign.
Lionel Messi won his record-extending seventh men’s Ballon d’Or on Monday. Anyone who watched him carry both Argentina and Barcelona over the last year knows he absolutely deserved it. But even Messi admitted on Monday that Robert Lewandowski deserves the 2020 Ballon d’Or.
Lionel Messi edged Robert Lewandowski for the men’s 2021 Ballon d’Or, the Argentine’s record-extending seventh trophy as the best men’s player in the world. But Cristiano Ronaldo, who didn’t even attend the award show in Paris, still managed to make it all about him.
Messi, who this year helped Argentina win the 2021 Copa América and Barcelona win the Copa del Rey (lol), was also named the world’s best men’s player in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019.
HERE IS THE WINNER!
There’s something about snow that brings out both the beauty and the pain of this world. Few things in life are more beautiful than watching frozen water crystals fall to the Earth, transforming the landscape. Few things in life are more painful than taking a blow to the crotch in below-freezing weather, altering your entire world view. Few things in life are more beautiful than a perfectly executed bicycle kick; few things in life are more painful than a complete whiff by a goalkeeper.
Bayern Munich has been blowing out competition this season, scoring three or more goals in 11 of 12 matches coming into Wednesday, including eight in two Champions League games. But through 70 minutes on Wednesday, the German giants were scoreless. That is, until the Leroy Sané free kick vs Benfica.
Sané blasted a marvelous free kick to break the deadlock and open the floodgates as Bayern poured it on late in a 4-0 win on Wednesday at the Estádio da Luz. Sané scored the first and fourth goals after his club had two goals denied by the VAR.
A F̶l̶o̶r̶i̶a̶n̶ ̶W̶i̶r̶t̶z̶ ̶t̶r̶y̶o̶u̶t̶ top-of-the-table Bundesliga clash between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday failed to live up to the billing, instead playing out like a fight between Tyson Fury and a piece of toast that’s been soaking in a bucket.
It’s too early to award the title to Bayern — Borussia Dortmund still has something to say about that — but it’s not too early to give the Ballon d’Or to Robert Lewandowski.
BERLIN - Bayer Leverkusen are enjoying a three-game winning run in the Bundesliga and could not have hoped for a better time to meet champions Bayern Munich in Sunday's top-of-the-table clash.
Leverkusen have been superb this season, showing consistency and playing an exciting, attacking brand of football under their new Swiss coach Gerardo Seoane as they prepare to host a Bayern side who lead the table only on goal difference.
No top-flight club celebrates Oktoberfest like Bayern Munich, whether it’s players getting sloshed in lederhosen or jerseys created specifically for the beeriest time of the year. This season the German giants kicked off Oktoberfest in supreme style, with a delicious Leroy Sané free kick vs. Bochum that, like a frothy Märzen, really set the mood for a 7-0 victory on Saturday.