Daily Schmankerl: Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski is dominant; What Javi Martinez does behind the scenes; Manchester United still eyeing Harry Kane; Borna Sosa trying to make amends with Croatia; and MORE!

Lewandowski is unreal (@WhoScored)

Bayern Munich ace Robert Lewandowski is having a fantastic season. Many wonder just how crazy his scoring total — and his club’s trophy total — might be if he had been able to avoid that unfortunate injury he suffered while playing for Poland during the last international break.

But exactly how good has Lewandowski been? Take a look at this stat from Who Scored:

Martinez talks Bayern behind the scenes (Tz)

Javi Martinez will end his storied run at Bayern Munich after this season and while he might not fulfill an absolutely meaningful role on the pitch these days, the Spaniard does play a big part behind-the-scenes.

When asked who will take over the integration of Spanish-speaking players into the squad after he departs, Martinez gave an interesting response.

“Lucas will do that,” Martinez said. “He already speaks good German, Marc Roca can also help with the integration. We have a lot of players who could help with this. Joshua (Kimmich) speaks good Spanish, too.

Please don’t let Don Balon see that last sentence or we will getting a “Kimmich to Barca” rumor within hours.

Anyway, we saw that Kimmich is a big fan of playing “padel” a couple of weeks back, but it turns out that “padel” is a bit of phenomenon for many Bayern Munich players — including Martinez.

Martinez said his best friend on the team is Hernandez, but he’ll hit the padel courts with just about anyone who is up to the challenge.

“If I had to choose one, it would be Lucas Hernandez. He’s like a brother to me. We had a great time, went on vacation together,” Martinez said. “But I also like to play padel with Joshua Kimmich and Manuel Neuer, for example. We are all not just colleagues, but friends. It’s worth more to me than winning the Champions League.”

Sosa trying to clear his name with Croatia (@iMiaSanMia)

Just a week ago, VfB Stuttgart’s Borna Sosa seemed headed for an international career with Germany, but a relatively new FIFA rule has made that impossible. Now, Sosa has to walk back that interest in Germany and get back into the good graces of Croatia.

“I will not shy away from responsibility for the situation I found myself in, although at the time I made the decision I believed I was doing the right thing. I made the wrong decision and was naive,” Sosa said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “The decision I made was wrong and I have to take responsibility for it. If the Croatian Football Association and the coach believe that I can still contribute to the success of our national teams, I will respond to their invitation and will be available.”

United still following Kane (Transfer Market Web)

There have been rumors swirling for months about whether or not Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane wants to move on. One club that is keeping a close eye on Kane is Manchester United:

In spite of having just signed 34-year old Uruguayan star striker Edinson Cavani on a further year-long deal, Manchester United management, according to latest UK news, aren’t done tracking English international and Tottenham major hitman Harry Kane (27). Red Devils are in fact still planning to side a god-tier scorer to both Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes, therefore composing a worldwide top attacking trio.

Currently on a deal with North London giants until June 2024, Kane is meant to leave only on a 3-digit transfer fee. Tottenham would go for an at least 140 million euros one, while Red Devils are planning to keep it close to the lower end. Besides, throughout latest seasons, Kane has been pursued by most A-listers around, including Manchester City (plotting to go for him upfront right away), PSG, Real Madrid, and Juventus.

Robben’s ride home in 8-bit (@8bitfootball)

A few days ago we covered Arjen Robben’s riding his bike home after his game and now he was given the 8-bit treatment:

When worlds collide (@carloscaicedo)

Alberto Campos sent this over for the Schmankerl: In the match between Junior of Barranquilla and River Plate in Colombia and you can hear smoke bombs and what not during the demonstrations in the surrounding area:

Manchester United fans once again made their voices heard — albeit for a whole different set of seasons — yesterday as well:

In 2020 and 2021, sports, politics, and social activism are all constantly intersecting...sometimes intentional and sometimes not.