Tonight’s group stage draw for the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League did not disappoint after a cadre of storylines is primed to dominate headlines in the coming weeks.
New Manchester City star Erling Haaland will return to his old hunting grounds at Signal Iduna Park after Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions were drawn against Borussia Dortmund, but the headline match-up in Group C has taken much of the spoils this evening after Bayern Munich will be forced to contend with their old friend Robert Lewandowski.
In what was a moment that does UEFA no favors, Barcelona was gifted a pair of matchups with the Bundesliga giants just mere weeks after Lewandowski left Bavaria for Catalonia after eight star-studded years with the Rekordmeister.
The Warsaw native and all-time leading goalscorer for Poland earned legendary status at Bayern after he became the second-greatest striker in the club’s history behind German demi-god Gerd Müller, scoring 238 goals in the Bundesliga in just 253 appearances, with that number being expounded to 344 goals in 375 appearances across all competitions.
Oliver Kahn couldn’t hold back the laughs 😆 pic.twitter.com/HBDGro8dr1
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 25, 2022
It would have been fitting for Lewandowski to return to the club where he truly made his name after starring for Borussia Dortmund previously, with Germany and Bayern icon Oliver Kahn hardly being shocked at the storyline that was almost too good to pass up, telling Kicker “It was so obvious, so obvious. Of course, we’d get Barcelona in our group.”
Friend and former Bayern clubmate Thomas Müller seems to be relishing in the prospect of squaring off against his old attacking confidant when he posted a video on his Instagram account, saying “Mr. Lewandowski, see you in Munich soon” while also remarking “What a great story that we are about to meet FC Barcelona with Robert Lewandowski. For me a great group with great teams. These will be great Champions League nights for football fans. But we have to do our homework to reach the round of 16.”
Thomas Müller on Instagram: “Mr Lewangoalski, see you soon in Munich” pic.twitter.com/PjFzjnqoDD
— Bayern & Die Mannschaft (@iMiaSanMia_en) August 25, 2022
“It’s a very demanding group full of challenges. Inter have strengthened their team well. It’s a club that has had a lot of international success and has regained strength in recent years.”
“Regarding Barcelona, the first thing that comes to mind is the story with Lewy, of course. I hope we can achieve similar results as we did against Barça in recent years. Pilsen is the Czech champion ahead of the Prague clubs, that’s saying something. We have to be there right from the start. We’re looking forward to it.”
Manuel Neuer also is looking forward to an early reunion with the Polish superstar; “Barcelona and Inter will be highlights in the group stage. Two great clubs, two great stadiums. I’m looking forward to this group. It’s also nice that we’ll reunite with Robert Lewandowski so soon.”
With Inter Milan also in the mix as well as Czech champions Viktoria Plzen, Bayern will be hopeful of doing the double over Barcelona to remind Lewandowski that the German juggernaut is intent on topping the group in spite of his departure.
