Robert Lewandowski wasn’t present for Bayern Munich’s 1-0 loss to Manchester City, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, but his presence was felt all over the place. His name came up in the post match press conference, and the match’s only goal-scorer, Erling Haaland, was connected to the Polish scoring sensation in a roundabout way this summer.
You can not have a summer silly season without an overly tedious transfer saga or two (Lewandowski leaving, Lewandowski to FC Barcelona was definitely that!) and a player rant against his former club. For the latter, well, read on below:
In an interview with ESPN, Lewandowski shot down the rumors claiming that was he forced out of Bayern, due to the club’s interest in City (and former Borussia Dortmund) striker Erling Haaland.
“No, that was nothing to do with Erling,” Bayern’s second all-time leading scorer claimed.
“I am the guy who even if something’s not good for me – truth is more important. I don’t want to speak about what happened exactly. But if the question is if the decision to move was because of him, no, I didn’t see the problem if he joined Bayern Munich.
“But some kind of people doesn’t say to me the truth, say something different.
“And for me it was always important to be clear, to stay true, and maybe for a few people that was the problem. And in the end I know that something doesn’t work well with my person as well and I knew that, OK I see and I feel that maybe it’s a good time to move out of Bayern Munich and join Barcelona.”
Lambeau lightning delay lifted. Game on! #BayernMunich #ManCity now set to kickoff at 615 instead of 6 pic.twitter.com/t4CF1Qfjns
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) July 23, 2022
While hitting out at his former bosses the striker supreme said he still has a great relationship with his contemporaries and mates.
“I had a very good relationship with my teammates, with the staff, with the coach, and these are all things I’m going to miss because I spent a beautiful time there,” Poland’s all-time leading scorer continued.
“And we were not only friends from the pitch but also something more. But in the end this chapter is over and I open a new chapter in my life and a new chapter in my career.”
Okay, so that enough with the niceties, now let’s move on to what you came for, the fire. Robert Lewandowski did indeed bring the pain to the leadership of the Bavarian giants. He dropped a few expletives in this interview.
“So I feel that I’m in the right position, right place,” the big man continued.
Fun and productive business trip, indeed. #BAYERNMUENCHEN #ManCity #GreenBayPackers pic.twitter.com/EzKIRRv4rG
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) July 24, 2022
“So everything that’s happened in the last maybe few weeks before I left Bayern Munich, that was also of course a lot of politics. The club tried to find an argument why they can sell me to another club because before it was difficult to explain maybe to the fans. And I had to accept that even though it was a lot of bulls—, a lot of s— said about me. Not true, but in the end I knew that the fans, even in this period, still support me a lot.”
The full Robert Lewandowski interview can be viewed here.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.