Robert Lewandowski Out 4 Weeks After Injury vs. Chelsea

Lewandowski suffered the leg injury in Bayern's Champions League thrashing of Chelsea.

On the heels of a dominant Champions League performance, Bayern Munich got a dose of bad news.

Robert Lewandowski, arguably the world's most in-form goal-scorer, will miss the next four weeks after suffering a leg injury in the 3-0 win over Chelsea on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge. Bayern says that he "broke the tibia in his left knee joint" and will need to spend the next 10 days immobilized with his leg in a cast. Lewandowski, who played all 90 minutes vs. Chelsea, will begin rehab after that and should return in four weeks.

The news is brutal for Bayern, which finds itself in a tight Bundesliga race, though the club has a big enough Champions League cushion vs. Chelsea to feel comfortable seeing out the second leg at home without Lewandowski.

The Polish striker has been on fire in 2019-20. He leads the Bundesliga with 25 goals through 23 games, and he leads all scorers in the Champions League this season with 11 goals after his strike in London on Tuesday. He also assisted on Serge Gnabry's two goals vs. Chelsea. His three goals in the DFB Pokal have helped Bayern reach the quarterfinals of the German cup competition, too.

Bayern doesn't have a like-for-like replacement for all that Lewandowski does, but his injury may provide veteran Thomas Muller with the opportunity to see more time in the spotlight.

Bayern currently leads the Bundesliga by a point over RB Leipzig, with Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen all within striking range, too. 

Lewandowski stands to miss league games against Hoffenheim, Augsburg, Union Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt, the DFB Pokal quarterfinal vs. Schalke and the Champions League second leg vs. Chelsea. If his injury timetable holds, he'll return before what is shaping up to be a massive edition of Der Klassiker vs. Dortmund on April 4 and the Champions League quarterfinals that kick off the following week.