9 - Robert Lewandowski

[BBZ8800]

And that still got him to top 4:


127: Cristiano Ronaldo (POR, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)
113: Lionel Messi (ARG, Barcelona)
71: Raúl González (ESP, Real Madrid, Schalke)
64: Karim Benzema (FRA, Lyon, Real Madrid)
63: Robert Lewandowski (POL, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern München)
56: Ruud van Nistelrooy (NED, PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Real Madrid)
50: Thierry Henry (FRA, Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona)
48: Zlatan Ibrahimović (SWE, Ajax, Juventus, Internazionale Milano, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United)
48: Andriy Shevchenko (UKR, Dynamo Kyiv, AC Milan, Chelsea)
46: Filippo Inzaghi (ITA, Juventus, AC Milan)

Interesting how many legends barely even hit 50, really shows the consistency of Lewandowski/Benzema in being starters for Bayern/Real for many years now. And of course how unreal the numbers of Messi and Ronaldo are.

I have to say cl was more even back in the day. Nowadays the big teams often bully the likes of red star. A cl hattrick used to be very rare, let alone 4 goals.
Its not weird guys like henry,ruud, ronaldo, sheva or inzaghi barely cracked 50.

True.
When Benzema and Lewa have more goals than Ruud and Shevchenko, you know that something is wrong with a current era.

0,81 goals per match: Lewa at Bayern
0,81 goals per match: Ruud at Man. Utd.
0,50 goals per match: Shevchenko at Milan
0,42 goals per match: R9 at Real

Also, there needs to be said that in 90s and early 00s, Champions league was stronger and only the best teams played there.
In the last 10 years, Platini changed a system and allowed teams like Slavia, Dinamo Zagreb, Crvena Zvezda and similar to play every season, so that smaller countries and eastern Europeans could also play in a CL.
In 90s, in the last qualifying rounds, teams like Dinamo Zagreb and Crvena Zvezda used to play against 3rd and 4th placed teams from TOP5 leagues, like Liverpool, Arsenal, Milan and similar.
So, they almost never reached a CL.
Today, they don't have to play against those teams but against a champion from Estonia, Slovenia, Latvia and similar.

Further, big teams got even richer and the difference between strong and smaller teams is even bigger than in 90s and 00s.

Against Crvena Zvezda, Bayern had 34 and 29 shots over 2 matches.
Yet, for example, Barca had to play in 1998/99 group stage against: Manchester United, Bayern and Brondby.

So, the rules are different (there is more matches against very weak teams), and rich teams got richer so their overal advantage over the opponents is larger than in the past, which means that forwards from current era will get more shots and more goals than equal or better guys in the past.

I mean, out of Top5 CL scorers ever, 4 out of 5 are players from the last 10 years.
What are the chances that ALL the best players (or the best scorers) EVER have lived EXACTLY in the same era, in the span of 10 years?
Messi's, CR7's, Bebz's, Lewa's, some amounts of goals of all of the are inflated.
Even Messi would probably had 20-50% lower number of goals if he played let's say in 1996 for Milan or Juve.

 

[ronniecro]

i'm not being fooled by yesterday,if that was ronaldo or suarez who scored four we would be calling that stat paddling or abusing irrelevant and weak team,zvezda is really poor oponent to give such a huge importance for this performance. i'm not talking in general but only for yesterdays game

 

[Yannik]

True.
When Benzema and Lewa have more goals than Ruud and Shevchenko, you know that something is wrong with a current era.

0,81 goals per match: Lewa at Bayern
0,81 goals per match: Ruud at Man. Utd.
0,50 goals per match: Shevchenko at Milan
0,42 goals per match: R9 at Real

Also, there needs to be said that in 90s and early 00s, Champions league was stronger and only the best teams played there.
In the last 10 years, Platini changed a system and allowed teams like Slavia, Dinamo Zagreb, Crvena Zvezda and similar to play every season, so that smaller countries and eastern Europeans could also play in a CL.
In 90s, in the last qualifying rounds, teams like Dinamo Zagreb and Crvena Zvezda used to play against 3rd and 4th placed teams from TOP5 leagues, like Liverpool, Arsenal, Milan and similar.
So, they almost never reached a CL.
Today, they don't have to play against those teams but against a champion from Estonia, Slovenia, Latvia and similar.

Further, big teams got even richer and the difference between strong and smaller teams is even bigger than in 90s and 00s.

Against Crvena Zvezda, Bayern had 34 and 29 shots over 2 matches.
Yet, for example, Barca had to play in 1998/99 group stage against: Manchester United, Bayern and Brondby.

So, the rules are different (there is more matches against very weak teams), and rich teams got richer so their overal advantage over the opponents is larger than in the past, which means that forwards from current era will get more shots and more goals than equal or better guys in the past.

I mean, out of Top5 CL scorers ever, 4 out of 5 are players from the last 10 years.
What are the chances that ALL the best players (or the best scorers) EVER have lived EXACTLY in the same era, in the span of 10 years?
Messi's, CR7's, Bebz's, Lewa's, some amounts of goals of all of the are inflated.
Even Messi would probably had 20-50% lower number of goals if he played let's say in 1996 for Milan or Juve.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy had 6 goals in the CL knockout stage. The vast majority of his goals came from group stage games.
But just like any striker his stats were also skewed by hattricks and super hattricks against the likes of HJK Helsinki and Sparta Prague. There hasn't been a time when these teams weren't around. Especially before the CL reform it used to be the winners of each country, meaning you had automatic starting spots for the league winners of every single campaign.

It's not all that surprising that the top CL scorers are all from the last 1-2 decades, because only since 2003 this tournament has a max of 13 games per team. In the 90s it varied from 9-11 games max and there were far fewer teams that were qualified because there were only 4 or 6 groups, instead of 8. But this didn't just strip off teams such as Slavia Prague or Partizan Belgrad of starting spots, but especially also 2nd or 3rd places teams in top leagues that would otherwise be among the best 20 clubs in the world.

And yeah, you had groups like this.



This is however a very extreme example, because paralell to this group, there were also groups like this



Group games weren't really "stronger" but drawing system was just very inconsistent. Groups like the strong one are still around today though to an extend.
In 2013 for example you had a group of Real Madrid, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax Amsterdam (and Lewandowski even played in that group). It happens.

 

[KingLeo10]

The top strikers of that era didn't really score as consistently as the Messi, CR7, Lewa and the like. I know that if Messi goes a couple games without scoring in the CL, there's literally meltdowns on here. While as Yannik pointed out, the best out and out striker of the last 20 years at United only scored 6 KO goals in his tenure there.

 

[MTL_Barca]

The big teams got stronger and competition changed but look at Benzema, he is at Real Madrid since 2009 and besides sharing minutes with Higuain here and there he pretty much was a starter for these 10 years that's very impressive. And even before that he played CL with Lyon. He's 31 and has 44 CL games more than Van Nistelrooy, thats like playing 4 seasons more. So i don't think it's mainly about easier competition in that case and more about consistently playing (without too many injuries) for a team that does well in the CL.

Its similar for Lewandowski, his numbers look even more impressive as he's about to overtake Benzema with 30 games less although it's not that surprising since he pretty much started his CL career when he already was world class.

Still, if it was easy more players would have these numbers. Obviously you usually can't compare stats to 20+ years ago, but it's not like the CL suddenly got super easy in 2013.

 

[BBZ8800]

Yannik and Leo, but still, another thing exists:
Rich clubs weren't as rich as today.

League champions: 90s:
Spain: Barca 6, Real 2, Atletico 1, Deportivo 1
Italy: Milan 5, Juve 3, Sampdoria 1, Lazio 1
Germany: Bayern 4, Borussia 2, Kaiserslauten 2, Stuttgart 1, Werder 1

00s:
Spain: Barca 4, Real 4, Valencia 2
Italy: Inter 5 (in a row), Juve 2, Roma 1, Milan 1
Germany: Bayern 6, Borrusia 2, Werder 1, Stuttgart 1, Wolfsburg 1

10s:
Spain: Barca 6, Real 2, Atletico 1
Italy: Juve 8 (in a row), Milan 1
Germany: Bayern 7 (in a row), Borussia 2

For example, best teams from Italy, Spain and Germany COMBINED:
Won 15 titles in 90s (Milan, Barca, Bayern)
Won 15 titles in 00s (Inter, Barca, Bayern)
Won 21 titles in 00s (Juve, Barca, Bayern) and we have yet to finish the 10th season, and if those 3 will win it, we will have 24 titles combined for those teams.

In Germany, only once in a history someone won 3 titles in a row.
Bayern from 1972-1974.
And then, in a current era, they have won 7 titles in a row, and now they will win the 8th.
In Italy, the longest winning streak in 80s, 90s and 00s was: 3 titles in a row for Milan (1992-1994).
Then, in the last 15 years, you have Inter with 5 titles in a row and then Juve with 8 titles in a row, and now they will add the 9th.
Why is that?
Well, because there was no internet in 80s, 90s and early 00s, and the money earned on football was not as huge as today.
Sponsor money was lower, you could have watched matches only on a TV.
Today, the whole world is on your laptop/mobile phone screen, there is more money, sponsors and fans involved.
And who is the best in advertising and earning?=top brands/top clubs, of course.
That means that in 90s, let's say that Barca had 50 Millions to spend, and Bilbao had let's say 10 Millions to spend.
Let's say that Barca was 5 times richer.
While today, Athletic can spend 20-30M per year, while Barca can spend 500M or a billion.
So, Barca is probably 10, 20 or 50 times richer than those teams (this is just an example, I didn't check the actual numbers). But you get the point.
And what happens on a field then?
When Barca had 50M to spend, we couldn't have bought every single youngster and gem in the world.
So, matches against Osasunas and Bilbaos were way tighter, with let's say 8:5 shots per match for Barca, and we were usually winning 2:1.
While today, when we can buy every single Dembele, Neymar, Coutinho, Griezmann etc, on average matches, we will have 15:5 or 20:2 shots on Camp Nou.
And we will often see scores 6:1, 7:1 or 11:1 in the case of CR7.

Now, the question is, if Barca's NO9 in 90s had le't say 1,5 shots per match and if the same no9 today has let's say 3-4 shots per match, due to Barca/Real being way stronger than the average opponents and creating more chances due to a large difference in quality, isn't it logical that Messis, CR7s, Benzemas and Lewas will today have 50-100% more shots than guys from 80s and 90s.
And then of course that Messi, CR7 and Lewa have crazy stats with out of this world number of goals.

Well, similar is in a CL.
Look at the winners in the last 10-15 years.
The last year with a surprise was 2004 with Porto-Monaco final.
Since then, the only surprise was Ajax in semis in 2019.

Big teams are just too reach and way stronger than the opponents and it is almost impossible not to reach KO stage.
That means more matches than in 80s, 90s or 00s.
Also, again, in a group stage, a difference in earning between Barca/Real and Dinamo Zagreb, Belgrade teams, Slavia and other eastern European teams is way bigger today.
The same Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) Belgrade who is today losing with 29:3 shots on goal from Bayern, won a CL in 1991 (1 year before Barca).
How?
Well, the format was different (KO matches all the way). Plus only one club per country played in a CL.
But also, back then, players from eastern Europe were "foreigners".
So, in 1992 or 1994, not only that Barca wasn't as rich as today (compared to La Liga teams or Red Star Belgrade) but also, teams were allowed to have only 3 foreigners.
We had Koeman, Laudrup, Romario, Stoichkov.
While today, we can buy "the best off" team from all over the world.
The whole world is a huge shopping mall today.
Today foreigners: Mats, Lenglet, Umtiti, Rakitic, Arthur, Frenkie, Vidal, Messi, Suarez, Dembele, Todibo. Plus in the last season: Coutinho, Malcom, Cillessen.

So, eastern European teams weren't selling players like today to big teams.
And then Barca could have bought only 2-3 Brasilians and that's it.
We had to rely on La Masia players and random Spanish signings.
But since we weren't as rich as today, we couldn't have lured any player like today.
Or look at Bayern, where Bundesliga is their playing ground and all teams are monopolized by Bayern.

So, when you sum all of this, we will get closer to the answer:
1. why have La Liga matches turned from 10:5 shots in 90s to 20:5 shots in 2019
2. why have La Liga average wins for Barca turned from 2:1 to 6:1 in 2019
3. why are Messi, Cr7, Suarez, Lewa, Benzema or even Neymar scoring 50 goals per season, whichz Van Basten, Shevchenko, Batistuta, Ruud, Henry couldn't achieve
4. why there is no surprises in a CL anymore
5. why are 4 out of top5 best strikers EVER in a CL from a current era.

No offense to anyone, but there is no way that 4 best strikers ever are all born in the same decade.

 

[BBZ8800]

The big teams got stronger and competition changed but look at Benzema, he is at Real Madrid since 2009 and besides sharing minutes with Higuain here and there he pretty much was a starter for these 10 years that's very impressive. And even before that he played CL with Lyon. He's 31 and has 44 CL games more than Van Nistelrooy, thats like playing 4 seasons more. So i don't think it's mainly about easier competition in that case and more about consistently playing (without too many injuries) for a team that does well in the CL.

Its similar for Lewandowski, his numbers look even more impressive as he's about to overtake Benzema with 30 games less although it's not that surprising since he pretty much started his CL career when he already was world class.

Still, if it was that easy more players would have these numbers. Obviously you usually can't compare stats to 20+ years ago, but it's not like the CL suddenly got super easy in 2013.

Yeah, but that is because Barca and Real will ALWAYS play in a CL TODAY.
And they will ALWAYS reach CL KO stage.
So, at least 6+2 matches per season.

Look at Real's strikers in 90s:
Real Madrid played in a CL only in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Also, regarding Benzema, in 80s or 90s, Real or Milan wouldn't have bought him in an early age.
Since you were allowed to have only 3 foreigners, you needed to buy 3 players in their prime.
You didn't have time to wait and develop Dembeles and Malcoms of that era.

So, Benzema would have been bought aged 26.
And even then, Real would have played in a CL once in 2 years.
So, Benzema in early 90s, woud spend 5-6 years at Real and he would play CL in 3 years.
So, in 90s, the same guy would have 20 matches and let's say 7 goals.
While today, the same guy has 80 matches and 40 goals.

Again, one more reason why ALL the best strikers (in terms of stats) are from a current era.
Even though, they aren't the best players ever.
They just played in the era where it is possible to spend 10 years at one club, play CL every year and where your teams will reach KO phase every season, while the rest of your opponents are weaker and weaker each new season.

 

[Copperpot]

Some great names being mentioned here, but no one mentioning Harry Kane, also broke a record last night.

Fastest player to reach to 20 Champions League goals, did it in 24 games.

 

[MTL_Barca]

Yeah, but that is because Barca and Real will ALWAYS play in a CL TODAY.
And they will ALWAYS reach CL KO stage.
So, at least 6+2 matches per season.

Look at Real's strikers in 90s:
Real Madrid played in a CL only in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Also, regarding Benzema, in 80s or 90s, Real or Milan wouldn't have bought him in an early age.
Since you were allowed to have only 3 foreigners, you needed to buy 3 players in their prime.
You didn't have time to wait and develop Dembeles and Malcoms of that era.

So, Benzema would have been bought aged 26.
And even then, Real would have played in a CL once in 2 years.
So, Benzema in early 90s, woud spend 5-6 years at Real and he would play CL in 3 years.
So, in 90s, the same guy would have 20 matches and let's say 7 goals.
While today, the same guy has 80 matches and 40 goals.

Again, one more reason why ALL the best strikers (in terms of stats) are from a current era.
Even though, they aren't the best players ever.
They just played in the era where it is possible to spend 10 years at one club, play CL every year and where your teams will reach KO phase every season, while the rest of your opponents are weaker and weaker each new season.

Well i wasn't really comparing anyone to players from the 90s, i just brought the scorer list up to highlight that Benzema actually has good numbers even if we take all that in account.

Also it's not like all top strikers easily get to these numbers so after all Lewandowski seems to do something right. Suarez for example is sitting at 23 goals in 56 games, thats 0,41 goals/game compared to Lewandowskis 0,74.

Some more because i was curious:

Messi 0,81
Ronaldo 0,76

Neymar 0,59
Cavani 0,57
Benzema 0,55
Kun 0,55
Salah 0,47
Ibrahimovic 0,40
Müller 0,39
Griezmann 0,36
Mandzukic 0,35
Higuain 0,30

Van Nistelrooy 0,77
Inzaghi 0,57
Raul 0,51
Drogba 0,48
Shevchenko 0,48
Del Piero 0,47
Henry 0,45
Eto'o 0,38
Rooney 0,35
Torres 0,25

So maybe there is a bit of a trend but the differences aren't too big. Still, Lewandowski has almost the same ratio as Ronaldo and is far ahead of the rest so i'd say thats quite strong even with him entering the competition some years later than most of these players.

And because he just got mentioned:

Harry Kane 0,83 (24 games, 20 goals)

GOAT

 

[Vilarrubi]

Lewa looks on course to beat Penaldo's 17 CL goals at this point. 10 already this season, will surely play against Spurs at home and score. Mental.

 

[odrzut]

No offense to anyone, but there is no way that 4 best strikers ever are all born in the same decade.

There's another thing - more people compete and they have more motivation. World has much more population now, many barriers fell (like Iron Curtain), scouting is much better because of more money and technology. 50 years ago someone like Messi could have been born in Africa and nobody would know. Now he's discovered quickly because everybody can make a video and post it on social media.

So - when you go from 300 000 000 people competing for 200 000 000 euro to play in UCL to 2 000 000 000 people competing for 50 000 000 000 - it's obviously going to result with better quality. Players will obviously push themselves more. Ronaldo Phenomeno was having fun on parties, drinking, etc. Lewandowski follows strict diet and hired a "sleep coach" so he can be that 0.001% better.

So yes - 4 best strikers ever were all born in the same decade, and that will be true going into the future - because each generation has more motivation and more opportunity to become greatest ever.

 

[raki]

He´s already got 31 goals this season. Impressive.

 

[Zidane82]

We’ve slipped down so much that we mow basically NEED to sign BOTH Neymar plus Lewandowski to become a half decent team. !!

 

[Gnidrologist]

It's inane to compare current strikers with past ones as they are playing like 5x more matches per season than in the past, especially in eurocups and as someone already said, against lots of minnows, who are only participating, because FIFA/UEFA have also bought into "let's make everything inclooosive" politiking (and money, of course).

 

[Ripsta]

With the shit league he plays in he might actually nick one of Messi's records - 50 in the league of 73 overrall. His ratio is better than Messi in 2011/12 atm. Hard to keep it up, but sadly the state of the German league right now it wouldn't surprise me.