Robert Lewandowski scored the fastest quadruple in UEFA Champions League history as Bayern Munich routed FK Crvena Zvezda in their Group B game in Belgrade.
The prolific Pole struck four times in the space of 14 minutes and 31 seconds in the second half as Bayern romped to a 6-0 win and ensured they qualified for the knockout stages as group winners.
The Germans took the lead through Leon Goretzka on 14 minutes before Lewandowski took over in the second half, starting his scoring spree with a penalty on 53 minutes and then adding three more goals between the 60th and 67th minutes.
Corentin Tolisso completed the rout with a goal one minute from time, but it was all about Lewandowski and his remarkable tally – which took him to 10 goals for this season’s group stage campaign, and which saw him become just the second player to score in nine consecutive Champions League group-stage games.
Afterwards, Lewandowski tweeted that he was “addicted to scoring goals.”
That certainly appears to be the case, with the 31-year-old Pole racking up 27 goals in just 20 club games this season.
Lewandowski previously scored four goals in a single Champions League game against Real Madrid while playing for Borussia Dortmund back in 2013, and joined Lionel Messi as being the only player ever to achieve a double-quadruple in the competition.
The Pole also famously scored five goals in nine minutes after coming on as substitute in a 2015 Bundesliga game against Wolfsburg.
With their win in Serbia, Bayern maintained their 100 percent record in Group B, and move onto their final group game against Tottenham, who secured qualification on Tuesday night with a comeback win against Olympiacos in what was Jose Mourinho’s first home game as manager.
Also on rt.com Special comeback: Jose Mourinho's Tottenham stage brilliant Champions League recovery to defeat OlympiakosAssuming he’s not rested against Spurs, Lewandowski will eye the chance to equal Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 11 goals in a single group stage (set with Real Madrid in 2015/16) as well as the Portuguese star’s achievement of being the only player to score in each group stage game (also set in 2015/16).
IS LEWANDOWSKI EUROPE’S TOP STRIKER?
Lewandowski’s record this season is nothing short of remarkable, even by the Pole’s own prolific standards. He has netted 16 times in 12 Bundesliga games, adding another goal in a German Cup tie and 10 more in just five Champions League games. He has also scored four times for Poland in Euro 2020 qualifying since the start of the season.
Elsewhere, Spurs and England hitman Harry Kane took his tally to 13 goals in 17 club games when he scored a double against Olympiacos. Kane has also bagged five for England in Euro qualifiers this season.
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema is also in a rich run of form, scoring his 13th and 14th goals in 17 club games as the Spanish giants were held to a draw by PSG in their Champions League group game on Tuesday.
Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, 19, has netted an incredible 26 goals in 18 games for Austrian side RB Salzburg – including a first-half hat-trick on his Champions League debut.