Berlin (AFP)

Robert Lewandowski achieved what many believed to be forever impossible on Saturday: he equaled the fabulous 40 goals in a Bundesliga season, set in 1971-72 by legendary Gerd "Bomber" Müller.

After his goal, scored on a penalty in the 26th minute of the Freiburg-Munich game, the Polish striker unveiled a t-shirt under his jersey with the inscription "4ever Gerd", while his teammates gave him a guard of honor.

His boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who has said for years that he is "the best center-forward in the world", however expressed what many Germans feel, a heartache for Gerd Müller, who ends his life at 75 years in an establishment welcoming Alzheihmer patients.

"I am a little divided," admitted the former double Ballon d'Or, "but I know what this record means for Robert".

“As a wife, I would prefer Gerd to keep her record,” Bomber's wife Uschi Müller had very modestly said this week: “Gerd was just unique. And even though Lewandowski is now breaking the record, Gerd will always be Gerd. We will never forget him. "

But, she added, "Gerd does not know jealousy (...) He would be the first to congratulate him, he would say: + well done guy, you are super +".

There will still be a Bundesliga day left for Lewandowski to improve this legendary brand, with the reception next Saturday from Augsburg.

- Key man of the treble -

This record crowns two exceptional seasons of the Polish striker, who seems to have reached the peak of his career at 32 years old.

After years of dominating the Bundesliga, but never really exploding internationally, Lewandowski suddenly took on another dimension.

Last year, he was the key man in Bayern's hat-trick, finishing top scorer in all three competitions, the Championship (34 goals), the German Cup (6 goals) and the Champions League (15 goals) .

These exploits were crowned with a reward that he had been waiting for for years: the title of best Fifa-2020 player, equivalent to the Ballon d'Or, not awarded last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

One of its most amazing characteristics is its steadfastness, physical and mental.

Of all Bayern's stars, he's the only one who never drops in level during squad slumps, often in November or December.

Physically, his resistance to injury is staggering, for an attacker who is never spared by opposing defenders.

From his arrival at Bayern in 2014 until the end of last season, he had missed an average of less than three games per season.

- "My husband is a machine" -

His goal record this season is all the more extraordinary as Lewandowski has missed several matches for once, and has reached the mark of 40 goals while only participating in 28 Bundesliga matches.

“Robert is the most complete player in world football,” Lothar Matthäus, Ballon d'Or 1990, said of him, “he took a plateau last season and he got even better. leaders of the FC Bayern dressing room ".

An instinctive scorer but a hard worker, the man who was spotted at the age of 21 by Dortmund while playing at Lech Poznan, Poland, has never stopped improving.

Over the years, he has diversified his game. Able to win to come and participate in construction, very strong back to goal, diligent defender if necessary, he is much more than a simple finisher.

His rigor in preparation, his diligence in training, his concern for food, are also cited as an example at Bayern and beyond.

"My husband is a machine," recently launched his wife Anna, a former Polish international karate, who serves as his private coach and watches over his diet.

His teammates nicknamed him "The Body" for his body sculpted by weight training.

© 2021 AFP