Lewandowski attitude 'implies he wants to stay', says Nagelsmann

By Sports Desk April 15, 2022

Robert Lewandowski's attitude towards his work at Bayern Munich gives the impression he is staying at the club, coach Julian Nagelsmann believes.

Lewandowski is the leading scorer among players in Europe's top five leagues for a third consecutive season, netting 47 goals in all competitions in 2021-22 after 48 in 2020-21 and 55 2019-20.

He is the only player in Europe to have scored at least 40 goals in each of the past seven seasons.

But the 33-year-old's contract has only a year to run, and he has been linked with a move away from Bayern – most prominently to Barcelona.

Bayern have insisted Lewandowski will not be sold, yet he will be able to leave on a free transfer in 2023 if a new contract is not agreed, denying the Bundesliga giants a huge fee.

However, Nagelsmann does not think Lewandowski intends to quit the German champions based on the conversations the pair have had.

"Of course I would like to keep him, he is an important goalscorer," Nagelsmann said ahead of Sunday's game at Arminia Bielefeld. "He has a contract. There are conversations.

"I never got the impression that he wants to leave. We talk a lot about tactics, and he participates a lot. That implies for me that he wants to stay.

"But it's also quite normal to think about your future, especially when you've been with the club for so long."

Nagelsmann was speaking on Friday, three days after a Champions League draw with Villarreal that saw Bayern eliminated from the competition at the quarter-final stage.

Their failure to reach the quarter-finals in consecutive seasons will have financial implications, but Nagelsmann hopes Bayern will keep investing in order to return to Europe's top table.

"It's always a vicious circle," he said. "The squad changes, you lose regular players; on the other hand, the income is missing because you don't get that far.

"Of course, we don't have the money we would have made from the semi-finals.

"You have to decide: do you take a risk, how much do you invest? If you do not take risks, the probability of reaching a semi-final is lower, then again the money is missing. It's always a balancing act."

Now, though, the focus has to be on clinching the Bundesliga title – that is Nagelsmann's message as Bayern aim to move on from the Villarreal game, where Lucas Hernandez and Kingsley Coman sustained muscle injuries that make them doubts against Arminia.

"There's a bit of dreariness. We won't have the opportunity to play such games again until a year from now," he said. "We have a year to think about it.

"But we now have a mission: ideally win the next two games to become champions. You have to turn that dreariness into vigour."

There is the potential for yet another Lewandowski record, too, needing only a single goal to become the outright away scorer in a Bundesliga season; he has 17 on the road so far this term, tied with Jupp Heynckes in 1973-74 and Timo Werner in 2019-20.

Lewandowski's only previous away game against Arminia in October 2020 saw him score twice and assist another in a 4-1 Bayern win.

Related items

  • Glenmuir stay perfect in Zone I of daCosta Cup after 2-0 win over neighbours Garvey Maceo Glenmuir stay perfect in Zone I of daCosta Cup after 2-0 win over neighbours Garvey Maceo

    Glenmuir High extended their perfect start to the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Wata daCosta Cup as they blanked neighbours Garvey Maceo 2-0 in a lopsided Zone I affair in May Pen, Clarendon, on Saturday.

    Ricardo Binns’ third goal of the season in the 29th and Orel Miller’s seventh of the season in the 40th was enough to seal the three points, which kept Glenmuir atop the standings on maximum nine points.

    The defeat, Garvey Maceo’s first of the season, saw them slip to third on six points as Foga Road (seven points) jumped to second after a 6-0 beating of Porus High.

    Glenmuir’s Head coach Andrew Peart welcomed the win.

    “I am pleased with the win and the maturity shown by the players. For most of them its three years so as they get older, you expect more of them and I thought they showed that. One of the key things for us was not to get the game stretched and I thought we did that well,” Peart said in a post-game interview.

    “It is step by step where our title ambitions are concerned; for us, the main thing now is to get out of the group and then we go from there. Yes, we plan long term but we are working short term so its day by day for us right now,” he added.

    It was expected to be a close contest between two of last season’s semi-finalists, but Glenmuir had other ideas and should have won by a wider margin.

    The Champions Cup holders dominated proceedings from the start as they were enterprising in the attacking third and created numerous chances, though they struggled to apply the finishing touch.

    It wasn’t until close to the half-hour mark that they inevitably broke the deadlock from a sustained attacking spell, when Binns headed into an empty net after a decent first touch kept the ball alive ahead of the advancing Garfield Tomlinson in goal for Garvey Maceo.

    The lead was doubled 11 minutes later courtesy of Miller, who sidewined his way through four defenders before driving a firm left-footed effort past the hapless Tomlinson to make it 2-0 at the break.

    Down, but not out, Garvey Maceo showed more purpose on the attacking front on the resumption and created a few half chances, which amounted to nothing.

    From there, the contest offered very little to write home about as Glenmuir showed very little in attack, seemingly content with what they already had, while Garvey Maceo did little to trouble their opponents defensive line.

    Garvey Maceo’s head coach Lester Hibbert believes indiscipline led to their demise.

    “We gave them instructions to stay with their markers because Glenmuir was doing a lot of movements. When we started the game, we kept them behind the ball but we lost the discipline and conceded two goals, so we just have to brush ourselves off and come again for the next game on Wednesday,” Hibbert said.

    Saturday’s results

    Vere Technical 0, Kemps Hill 2

    Glenmuir 2, Garvey Maceo 0

    Foga Road 6, Porus 0

    William Knibb 5, Holland 0

    Maggotty High 1, Newell 0

    Mannings 9, Godfrey Stewart 0

    Alston 1, Troy 0

    Herbert Morrison 3, St James 0

    Anchovy 1, Rusea’s High 0

    B.B Coke 1, Munro College 0

    Lennon 0, Clarendon College 2

    Irwin High 3, Green Pond High 3

    Spot Valley 2, Cedric Titus 0

    Port Antonio 2, Wycliffe Martin High 0

    Grange Hill 1, Black River 2

    Maldon 0, Cornwall College 1

  • 'We played two different games' - Maresca hails Chelsea response in Bournemouth win 'We played two different games' - Maresca hails Chelsea response in Bournemouth win

    Enzo Maresca felt Chelsea reaped rewards for "getting your t-shirt dirty", as they snatched a late victory over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

    The Blues endured a steady start with their hosts generating the greater attacking threat for most of the contest, with Robert Sanchez keeping out Evanilson's first-half penalty.

    Marcus Tavernier and Ryan Christie also struck the woodwork for the hosts, but substitute Christopher Nkunku landed the decisive blow five minutes from time.

    And Maresca was pleased with his side's response to a difficult first-half performance.

    "We played two different games," he told Sky Sports. "The first half, we struggled. We didn't win duels; we didn't win second balls. The second half, we were much better.

    "We knew before the game that Bournemouth are very high-pressing, man-to-man orientated. We faced a team who are very aggressive, it was more off the ball that we struggled. [The] second half completely changed the picture.

    "This is football. Last time against [Crystal] Palace, we completely deserved to win the game. We had chances and we drew. Today, it was there, and, in the end, we won.

    "You cannot come here to this stadium and think about winning the game without getting your t-shirt dirty. You need to win duels, you need to fight. If we are able to do this for 95 minutes, you have more chances to win games."

    Maresca handed a debut to new signing Jadon Sancho, who was introduced as a half-time substitute before providing the assist for Nkunku's winner.

    And the Manchester United loanee lifted the lid on how he is finding life since his switch to Stamford Bridge.

    "It's amazing to make my debut for Chelsea," he told Sky Sports. "Just being back playing, I'm very grateful. The team played very well; we dug in to the end and got the three points.

    "I've been working hard for this moment, and I'm happy I got my chance. Going into this season, I wanted to have a good start, and I'm happy.

    "I have to say thank you to the staff and teammates. The first day I came in, they made me feel welcome and comfortable."

  • Real Sociedad 0-2 Real Madrid: Vinicius, Mbappe penalties close gap on Barca Real Sociedad 0-2 Real Madrid: Vinicius, Mbappe penalties close gap on Barca

    Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe both scored penalties as Real Madrid saw off Real Sociedad 2-0 at the Reale Arena.

    Carlo Ancelotti's side moved to within a point of LaLiga leaders Barcelona, who visit fifth-place Girona on Sunday.

    Already without the likes of Jude Bellingham, David Alaba, Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni, Madrid suffered another injury blow in the 24th minute when Brahim Diaz was forced off with a muscular issue.

    After a goalless first half, the visitors broke through 13 minutes after the restart with Vinicius slotting home from 12 yards after Sergio Gomez handled Arda Guler's shot.

    Vinicus was then felled for Madrid's second penalty, which was awarded following a VAR review, with Mbappe making no mistake in sealing all three points.

    Data Debrief: Madrid extend unbeaten streak

    Extending their unbeaten LaLiga streak to 37 matches, Madrid have now won four successive away league games against Basque opposition for the first time since a run of four such victories between 2011 and 2013.

    By contrast, Sociedad have now suffered four straight home defeats in the Spanish top flight for the first time since 2007.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.