BERLIN (Reuters) – Augsburg will do everything to stop Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski from scoring against them and becoming the sole holder of the record for most goals in a Bundesliga season, surpassing Bayern great Gerd Mueller, coach Markus Weinzierl said on Friday.
Lewandowski has equalled Mueller’s 1971/72 record of 40 league goals in a season and can take the record if he scores against Augsburg on Saturday in the season finale.
“We have huge respect for Bayern and we know how tough it is to survive there,” Weinzierl told an online news conference. “We know what to expect and they have the top scorer with Lewandowski.”
“We need to do everything to hold against it. Even man-to-man if needed in order to protect Mueller’s record. We will find the right mix.”
Mueller, a 1974 World Cup winner and 1972 European champion as well as the Bundesliga’s all-time top scorer, had long been a youth coach at Bayern but has been suffering from Alzheimers since 2015, the club has said.
“In my youth, Gerd Mueller was my idol,” Weinzierl said. “He was also a co-coach of mine for four years in the Bayern amateurs.”
“I respect him and it is a very sad story with his current situation. So I wish it remains a shared record.”
“I will do everything possible that Lewandowski does not score and that Gerd Mueller keeps the record,” Weinzierl, who had played for Bayern’s second team in his youth, said.
Bayern have already secured their ninth successive league title while Augsburg made sure last week, with a win over Werder Bremen, that they will remain in the top division for at least another season.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Robert Birsel)
