Bayern Munich and Life After Lewandowski

The German champion isn’t expecting to take any steps backward despite the dozens of goals it will need to replace with the star striker off to Barcelona.

The timing is all sorts of fascinating. As the summer transfer window hits its apparent zenith, the vast majority of new-signing introductions involve clubs currently playing out their preseasons in the United States.

So Robert Lewandowski’s Barcelona unveiling wasn’t held in a packed Camp Nou. It took place at a hotel in Fort Lauderdale. Matthijs de Ligt’s move from Juventus to Bayern wasn’t celebrated in Munich. He was rushed to Washington, D.C., where he immediately joined his new side, held a press conference and was thrust into active duty at an MLS stadium one day later. He played in Wednesday night’s 6–2 exhibition drubbing of D.C. United at Audi Field, where he scored an unofficial first goal in Bayern red, two minutes into his run off the bench.

It’s a bit of a transition period for Bayern, which has been one of the more active clubs in the transfer market this summer, so perhaps it’s fitting to have it take place away from home, where the new unit can get a fresh start together before returning to the Allianz Arena with a better idea of how things will look this season. Losing Lewandowski, the club’s centerpiece and two-time reigning FIFA Best Men’s Player of the Year, is no small matter. Yet there’s also internal cause for optimism.

Nagelsmann and Bayern Munich will have a new approach in 2022-23 after Lewandowski’s departure :: MIS/Imago Images

Over the course of a couple of days in Washington, Bayern manager Julian Nagelsmann suggested that the club was perhaps a bit predictable in its approach with Lewandowski on the field. That level of predictability is a trade-off most clubs would take in exchange for a prolific finisher like the Polish striker, and Nagelsmann repeatedly lamented how Bayern has roughly 40 goals to replace and how that won’t be easy. But change can be a good thing for a club so used to churning out more of the same.

“When you have a forward like Robert in your team, your style is always typical,” Nagelsmann said. “You do a bit more crosses because you know there’s a striker that could finish with his head, that could finish with both feet, so ... the way of playing, your style will be a bit different in the future. I think it’s a challenging situation in the moment, that’s normal, because it’s kind of a new Bayern Munich. Lewy was here for eight years and he scored most of the time 30–40 goals.

“When you play against Bayern Munich you know that you try to solve the situation with Lewy, and when you get a good man-on-man coverage against Lewy it was a bit easier to play against Bayern Munich. Now it’s not that easy to find the best solution, when I talk about the opponents to defend us, because there’s no Lewy at all. It’s challenging, but do not be afraid. We will have a good solution for the future.”

Lewandowski joined Barcelona in Florida and has begun training with his new team :: David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire/Imago Images

Among the solutions, he suggested, could be playing with multiple strikers and focusing on more diverse movements from his stable of attacking players. In its first match without Lewandowski—granted, against an overmatched opponent and played at a preseason pace—that was Bayern’s approach, with multiple runners in behind, players flooding the box and chances piling up.

It’s not like Bayern is hurting for talent despite Lewandowski’s departure. Between new signing Sadio Mané, Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sané, Kingsley Coman (“One of the most important players for us,” Nagelsmann said), Thomas Müller, Jamal Musiala, Marcel Sabitzer, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Leon Goretzka (the latter of whom is out 6–8 weeks after knee surgery) there’s enough of a daunting core. With Alphonso Davies bombing forward and perhaps contributing more as a defined attacking player, there’s another wrinkle Nagelsmann can throw at opponents, and the manager also suggested that de Ligt, a strong aerial presence on set pieces, could help make up the goal deficit with an output above that of the average center back.

"I think there could be or there will be solutions to compensate that,” Nagelsmann said. “I think we have a lot of players who could play forward, and it’s not that easy to defend it. They can move quickly between the defense lines of opponents, between the midfield and defense lines, so it’s not that easy to get man-on-man coverage against our forwards. So I think our movement will be really dangerous. I’m looking forward to see the new Bayern Munich after Lewy.”

Bayern doesn’t have to look far to see how success can be achieved without a classic center forward. Its next opponent in the U.S., Manchester City (Saturday at the Green Bay Packers’ Lambeau Field), just won a grueling Premier League title race without a remarkable striker. This summer, it went and bought one of the most dynamic young strikers in the game in former Dortmund star Erling Haaland, who will change its approach going forward—perhaps to the kind that Bayern is leaving behind. But there’s proof of practice for a more diverse attack working at the highest level, and the sense one gets after hearing Nagelsmann is that he’s both reinvigorated by the tactical task ahead of him but also aware that too much tinkering will upend his squad. It’s going to be an exercise in creativity coupled with restraint.

“We set up for variety and flexibility in attack,” Müller said Wednesday night, echoing his coach’s sentiments. “Nobody has a designated section there. So, there's a lot possible.”

Lewandowski was blessed with his good health for the most part and was durable in his time at Bayern that the club rarely had to seek solutions to compensate for his absence. Instead of forcing him to play out his contract and losing him for nothing next summer, Bayern turned him the soon-to-be-34-year-old into a reported $50 million (“They buy a lot of players. I do not know how. It’s the only club in the world that has no money but can buy every player,” Nagelsmann said about the purchasing club, Barcelona, whose finances are infamously a mess).

Mané made his Bayern Munich debut at D.C. United’s Audi Field :: Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports

That more than covers the fee Bayern spent on Mané, who showed at Liverpool he can feature centrally or out wide. Bayern also reinvested and spent in excess to sign de Ligt, while filling out the squad with a couple of young Ajax stars in central midfielder Ryan Gravenberch and right back Noussair Mazraoui.

“When you spend a lot money for new players, the pressure will be a bit bigger than the last season, but that’s normal. You always have pressure as the manager of Bayern Munich,” Nagelsmann said.

So the plan, when Bayern returns home to face RB Leipzig in the German SuperCup and then kick off a 10th straight Bundesliga title defense, is for more of the same—just achieved differently and without its one goal-scoring constant. 

“We know very well what we have to thank Robert for, but great players have also left FC Bayern in the past, and even after that, Bayern's world did not fall apart,” club CEO Oliver Kahn said. “On the contrary, it often continued with even more success.”