Bayern-PSG – How to play without Robert Lewandowski?

How to replace a man who has scored 48 goals in just 36 games since the start of the season? It is simple, we do not replace it. Because Robert Lewandowski is “impossible to replace”, as the old FCB and Mannschaft legend Lothar Matthäus underlined. And yet Hansi Flick will have to compose without his serial scorer in the Champions League quarterfinals against last year’s finalist Paris Saint-Germain.

Lewandowski never had a real competitor in Munich

The problem is that the Pole has never had a worthy replacement in a position that is crucial. And for good reason: Lewandowski thrives on goals and leaves no crumbs for the competition. Bayern understood this and, since their arrival in 2014, only Claudio Pizarro, Sandro Wagner and today Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting – all closer to retirement than climax – have come to play the role of second knife behind the machine, with varying degrees of success.

To read: Lewandowski loses to PSG, on the round trip

As you can see, the odds of Choupo-Moting challenging his former teammates in one week are high. In C1, the Cameroonian need not be ashamed of his record, with two goals scored in five games, including one against Lazio Roma in the round of 16. Of course, nothing can be excluded, but Flick should go for the choice of reason by putting Thomas Müller, the usual playmaker between the lines, at the forefront of the attack.

Müller or Gnabry at the forefront?

An election that would later push Flick to redistribute the positions for its three wingers, all as good as the other during the last weeks. Therefore, logic would like to see Kingsley Coman on the left, Leroy Sané on the right and Serge Gnabry, the most “N ° 10-compatible” on the axis, without forgetting the possibility of seeing the latter alternate with Müller on top. If the German coach wants to maintain his 4-2-3-1, this solution seems the most appropriate, provided that no other player joins Lewandowski in the infirmary.

Read – Lewandowski “impossible to replace” according to Matthäus

But no matter who from Choupo-Moting, Müller or Gnabry “replaces” Lewandowski at the forefront, the lucky winner will have a hard time having the influence of the Pole, also useful for his goals (5 in 6 C1 games this season, Note from the editor) only for his deviations, his appeals and his help in building the game – the one who should have won the Ballon d’Or last year will be deeply missed by Bayern, who are moving into an unknown world without their serial scorer.

Four games without Lewandowski this season

Since the start of the season, the Bavarian star has only missed four official matches. In matchday 1 of the German Cup, in the Bundesliga against Cologne (2-1) and in C1 against Atlético (1-1) then Lokomotiv Moscow (2-0). Each time, a certain… Choupo-Moting replaced him, but you have to remember the lack of play, or the lack of level of the opponent when it comes to the Cup. So who will “replace” Lewandowski against Paris? Place your bets, respond in a week!