Bayern Munich Alumni: Robert Lewandowski reveals his toughest opponent

Bayern Munich Alumnus Robert Lewandowski played with Bayern for eight years and Borussia Dortmund for four years before making his move to FC Barcelona. In his 12 years at Germany, Lewy reveals one of his most significant opponents who troubled him.

In an interview with the Polish magazine “Kwartalnik Sportowy” (as transcribed by Sport Bild), Lewy recollected his experience playing against Carlos Zambrano. The Peruvian has plied his trade in several clubs in Germany, having played for Schalke, FC St. Pauli and Eintracht Frankfurt. Since 2020, he has been playing for Boca Juniors.

“All he wanted was to break my legs. He didn’t even look at the ball,” Lewy exclaimed, in frustration. “It annoyed me that the referee didn’t see it. Defenders are often allowed to do more than strikers, it’s not an equal fight,” the Polish marksman lamented.

(Zambrano has a reputation for being aggressive in games — he has received 52 yellow cards and two yellow-red cards in 137 games in the Bundesliga.)

However, he believes that fouls help him improve his game. “I think mostly it helps me to wake up, be more concentrated and try to outsmart my opponents,” the 33-year-old explained. “Sometimes I even get annoyed if nobody kicks me during a game - things like that give me energy,” he said.

It is interesting that in the five times Zambrano and Lewandowski have met in the Bundesliga and in the DFB Cup, the striker did not score a single goal.

So could it be the case that Lewy was scared of Zambrano? Hmm...