Daily Schmankerl: A look at Robert Lewandowski’s UCL career; new stories on James Rodriguez and Heung-Min Son; and MORE!

UEFA.com breaks down Robert Lewandowski’s Champions League career (UEFA.com)

Robert Lewandowski has put up some extremely impressive numbers in his career to say the least. UEFA.com produced a very thorough and comprehensive look at the Polish striker’s production in Champions League play. Just a few key stats from the piece include:

The Pole has scored all seven of his UEFA Champions League penalties.

Lewandowski’s overall European average of one goal per 143m44s is impressive, but he has a way to go to match the strike rates of Lionel Messi (a goal every 100m7s) or Cristiano Ronaldo (one every 112m52s).

Sevilla have been obdurate adversaries: in four attempts – two with Dortmund and two with Bayern – Lewandowski is yet to score against the Andalusian outfit. CSKA Moskva have gone the longest without conceding to Lewandowski: 224 minutes and counting.

Dinamo Zagreb have more reason to fear Lewandowski than any other side; he scored five goals in two games against them in 2015 (a hat-trick in Munich and then two more in Croatia). On average, that is a goal every 36 minutes.

To read more and get a more in depth breakdown, check out out the whole piece here.

Spanish outlet ABC claims James Rodriguez wants out of Munich ASAP (ABC)

Another day, another James wants to leave Bavaria story out originating from Spain. This time, it is Spanish outlet ABC with the claim that James is is pushing his agent, Jorge Mendes, to hasten his exit strategy:

He’s fed up with Kovac and Bayern. Yielded to the German team until June, which has the right to buy for 64 million until that month, James begs Real Madrid to press to return and fulfill his contract with the white club, which would end in 2021. The Colombian left a year ago champion of Europe, without wanting it, because Zidane did not count on him. The resignation of the French coach meant the immediate call of James to Jorge Mendes to try to return four months ago.

The substitution (rotation) with Kovac has accelerated his desire to leave already in January. “I can not play with twelve,” says the coach of the Bavarian club. And the Colombian asks to let him go to Real Madrid. It would be a quality blow in an exhausted midfield.

Bayern again linked to Heung-Min Son (Calciomercato)

Do you remember the 21st night of September? ....Okay it was the 17th of September when he first heard murmurs on Bayern Munich’s interest in Tottenham Hotspur forward Heung-Min Son, but how else was I supposed to shoehorn in Earth, Wind, and Fire?

Anyway, Italian outlet Calciomercato offered this up:

Bayern Munich insists on the South Korean winger Heung-min Son, born in 1992, expiring in 2023 with Tottenham.

A one-line report. That was it. Schmankerl fodder at its finest.

I immediately thought of the vastly underrated scene in Dumb and Dumber when Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) emerges from a convenience store, turns to a couple of guys hanging outside the store and says:

Hey guys, whoa Big Gulps, huh? Alright. Welp. See ya later!

A call for fan groups (BavarianFootballWorks.com)

We are trying something here at the Daily Schmankerl and need YOUR help. If you read my man Tommy Adams’ piece about his experience with the FCBNYC Fan Club (if you haven’t, SHAME ON YOU!), you could see how great the event was. So we want to highlight some of these wonderful groups that are out there globally and this is what we need from you:

• Name of the group
• Location
• Year founded
• Leadership (if you have people are kind of running the show)
• Meeting place
• Social media handles
• Pictures

We want to be able to feature a different fan group every week this season. Maybe we can do it, maybe not...but only YOU can help decide the fate of this idea. Send your info to: barrelsportsblog@gmail.com