Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski recalls Jurgen Klopp’s exceptional nose for garlic

Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski had some of the most formidable years of his career as far as his development was concerned playing under Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund. He spent four seasons playing under Klopp at Dortmund and really made a name for himself, not only in the Bundesliga, but also across Europe.

Lewandowski then joined Bayern Munich on a free transfer in the summer of 2014 and the rest is history as he’s now the second-most all time Bundesliga scorer behind only the late Gerd Muller.

In a recent edition of The Player’s Tribune, Lewandowski had reminisced on the fun little bet that Klopp used to wage with him at training sessions. If he didn’t score 10 goals in a training session, Lewandowski would owe Klopp 50 euros and vice versa if did score that many. It was a brief glimpse into one of a plethora of facets of Klopp’s management style that has made him so successful at Mainz, Dortmund, and now Liverpool in the Premier League. He’s certainly someone who wears his heart on his sleeve and has become very well known for his animated mannerisms on the touchline.

Lewandowski had also recalled how good of a nose for garlic Klopp had, and not for reasons you would initially think. Klopp certainly knows his way around and enjoys a good Erdinger Weißbier and would never shy away from admitting such, but opportunities for professional footballers to indulge a bit themselves are few and far between. When the opportunities did come at Dortmund, though, Lewandowski said nothing got past Klopp.

“I remember one time in the dressing room after having a weekend off. There’s a classic trick when a player has been out drinking. Eat a lot of garlic the morning after, so that your breath doesn’t stink of alcohol. So Jurgen came in before training and began sniffing around. He was like a hunting dog. ‘I smell something, is it garlic?’ The lesson: never try to fool Jurgen Klopp, the man’s too smart,” Lewandowski explained of the particular instance.

Photo by Boris Streubel/Getty Images

Of course, there are still appropriate times to indulge consequence free and by now, Lewandowski surely knows his way around a good Weißbierdusche with how many Bundesliga titles he’s won with both Dortmund and Bayern, collectively. Lewandowski’s recollection brings to mind Klopp’s recalling of Dortmund winning the title in 2011 and how he indulged so much to the point where he remembers waking up the next morning in the bed of a truck in an empty car garage. He had bumped into Hans-Joachim Watzke upon waking up and they had to hitch a ride with a man driving chickens in his truck since there were no taxis due to the roads being blocked off for the title parade.