Will Bayern Munich's Harry Kane break Robert Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record?
Now in his third season at Bayern Munich, Harry Kane has his eyes firmly fixed on Robert Lewandowski's single-season goal record.
When Gerd Müller scored 40 goals in the 1971/72 season, even the legendary Bayern forward probably did not expect to see his mark stand for 49 years.
Lewandowski broke it with virtually the last kick of the 2020/21 season when he scored his 41st league goal in the final minute of the Matchday 34 win against Augsburg.
Watch: Robert Lewandowski's record-breaking 2020/21
With an astounding 36 goals in just 32 appearances in his maiden Bundesliga campaign, England's record marksman came agonisingly close to it.
The total even set a new record for a player in their first Bundesliga term, beating Uwe Seeler's 30 in the league's maiden campaign in 1963/64.
Kane tallied an impressive - but some way short - 26 league goals to help Bayern reclaim the title in 2024/25, but his unstoppable form in 2025/26 has again raised the question: can he surpass Lewandowski's all-time record?
After 18 matches of the campaign, Kane has 21 Bundesliga goals to his name - the latest a trademark finish in a 5-1 victory at RB Leipzig. That is only two behind Lewandowski's tally at the same point of his record term, although the Polish marksman had already missed one game due to injury.
Both Lewandowski and Kane enjoyed significant gluts of goals. The Pole, who played just 29 matches in 2020/21, hit 12 in his first nine league appearances that year before netting an incredible 17 in his final ten; Kane, meanwhile, found the back of the net 12 times in the opening seven games of this season. The England captain's other nine league goals this term have come in his last nine outings.
Watch: Kane - more than a goalscorer
Surpassing Lewandowski's 41-goal haul would be a tall order for any striker – even for someone of Kane's ability – but there are positive signs the 32-year-old could break that record this term. He's reached 72 goals in just 68 Bundesliga appearances – faster than any other player in the division's history – at a rate of one every 79 minutes.
Erling Haaland at Borussia Dortmund (87 minutes), Lewandowski at Dortmund and Bayern (100 minutes) and even the Bundesliga's all-time leading scorer, Bayern legend Müller (105 minutes), could not better that.
Watch: Kane wins December's Player of the Month award
"Harry's consistency is very impressive," said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany after watching Kane score a hat-trick off the bench in a 5-0 win at VfB Stuttgart last month. "You can tell he feels at ease in Munich, with his family and in this team.
"We have an absolute leader in Harry."
Kane is also the only one of those great strikers to win the Torjägerkanone for the Bundesliga’s top goal-getter in each of his first two seasons in Germany.
A hat-trick perhaps seems inevitable now, but could he really take Lewandowski's record as well?
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