Robert Lewandowski is on course to break one of European football's most-storied scoring records

• Robert Lewandowski is on course to break one of European football's most storied scoring records.
• The Bayern Munich striker has hit 19 goals in just 14 Bundesliga games this term, equating to an average of 1.36 goals per game.
• Continue at the same rate, and the Pole will finish the season with 51 goals, smashing the record set by German icon Gerd Muller, who scored 40 times during the 1971/72 season.

Robert Lewandowski is on course to break one of European football's most storied scoring records.

The Bayern Munich striker - who was voted World Player of the Year in 2020 and is Insider's top male player in world soccer - has hit 19 goals in just 14 Bundesliga games this term, equating to an average of 1.36 goals per game.

If he continues to find the net at the same rate, and the Pole will finish the 34-game season with 51 goals, smashing the record set by fellow Bayern star Gerd Muller, who scored 40 times during the club's title winning 1971/72 season.

Only three players have since come close to beating that record - Muller himself who scored 36 the following year, FC Koln striker Dieter Muller who hit 34 during the 1976/77 campaign, and Lewandowski, who scored 34 times last year.

—Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) December 26, 2020

Lewandowski's teammate Thomas Muller believes this is the year his namesake's record is finally broken.

"When you see how consistently [Lewandowski] scores, it's definitely within the realm of possibility," he told reporters at The Best FIFA Football Awards in December.

Lewandowski's pursuit of Muller's record comes amid great upheaval for a number of longstanding goalscoring records in world football.

At the end of December, Lionel Messi took a record previously held by Pele for almost 50 years, becoming the most prolific scorer for a single club in history. And this past weekend, Cristiano Ronaldo moved within 50 goals of the record for most career goals by a single player.

The record is currently held by Czechoslovakian striker Josef Bican, who scored 805 goals in 530 matches between 1931 and 1955. Ronaldo currently has 758 career strikes.

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