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Robert Lewandowski Injury Wanted 'At All Costs' by Dortmund, Says Star's Agent
April 11, 2017
Maik Barthel, the agent for Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski, has accused Borussia Dortmund's players of trying to deliberately injure the striker during their Bundesliga meeting on Saturday.
Lewandowski netted twice in a 4-1 win for the German champions but was substituted off with a shoulder problem after a collision with BVB goalkeeper Roman Burki.
Speaking to Bild (h/t Rory O’Callaghan of the MailOnline), Barthel suggested there was some foul play at work. "I got the feeling that Dortmund wanted to eliminate Robert at all costs," he said.
When asked about the agent's suggestions, Dortmund’s sporting director Michael Zorc dismissed any notion that was the case.
"This is absolute nonsense," he said of the claims. "Of course, it was a foul from Burki, but we always tried to keep Robert out of the game in a fair way."
Bayern supporters would have had their hearts in their mouths when the 28-year-old landed awkwardly on his shoulder during the game, as they welcome Real Madrid to the Allianz Arena on Wednesday for the first leg of what promises to be a tremendous UEFA Champions League quarter-final.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti confirmed after the game that the injury was not severe enough to rule him out of the upcoming contest. However, according to Marco Ruiz of AS, the striker only took part in 15 minutes of training on the eve of the game.
There's always additional focus on Lewandowski in fixtures between the Bundesliga's two biggest sides as he used to ply his trade for Dortmund before making the switch to Bavaria in 2014. Since then he's continued to cement his status as one of the best centre-forwards in the world.
As we can see, he's long been the Bundesliga's most prolific goalscorer:
Lewandowski has enjoyed success wherever he's played in Germany. With Dortmund he won the title on two occasions, while this season he's chasing a third domestic crown in succession with Bayern.
The striker came close to UEFA Champions League glory in 2013 with Dortmund, although they were beaten 2-1 in the final by Bayern. With the German champions in sensational form at the moment, Lewandowski will be confident he can help keep his side's hopes alive this season despite the might of Real.
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