New on Sports Illustrated: Lewandowski Injured on International Duty Ahead of Big Week for Bayern

-

Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski was withdrawn from international duty with Poland after suffering a knee ligament injury.

Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski is at risk of missing the biggest games of the season for his club and country after sustaining a knee injury while on international duty with Poland. 

After scoring twice against Andorra in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday, the striker was subbed off just after the hour mark and has since returned to Bayern to receive treatment.

The Polish FA confirmed Lewandowski will likely need five to 10 days to recover from the ligament injury and will miss a critical World Cup qualifier against England in Group I, where only the top team is guaranteed a spot at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

"This decision is the only right one, bearing in mind the upcoming EURO 2020 tournament," the Polish FA

said in a statement. "Treatment for this type of injury usually takes five to 10 days. Therefore, Robert Lewandowski will return to the club, where he will undergo further rehabilitation."

The injury also puts a question mark on Lewandowski's availability for Bayern ahead of a decisive week. The reigning Bundesliga champs face a massive test on Saturday against second-place RB Leipzig, who trail Bayern by four points, in what could be a potential title decider. Just four days later, Bayern will host PSG in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals in a rematch of last year's final, which Bayern won 1-0. 

Lewandowski's performance this year has been nothing short of a tour de force. The winner of last year's Best FIFA Men's Player has scored 47 goals in 42 games this season in all competitions for club and country. In the Bundesliga, his astounding total of 35 league goals in 25 games has pulled him to within six of breaking Bayern legend Gerd Muller's single-season record with eight games still left to play. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New on Sports Illustrated: NBA Draft Big Board 3.0: Top 80 Prospect Rankings

-
Image
Ranking the top 80 players in the 2021 NBA draft with the NCAA tournament in the rearview. View the original article to see embedded media. With three months until draft night and the NBA’s regular season winding down , the league at large has begun shifting full focus to the off-season. Players have until May 30 to declare as early entrants for the draft, after which point the predraft process will open up in full, leading up to the combine and lottery at the end of June . Our Big Board is long overdue for an update, and fully expanded out to 80 prospects as we all attempt to make sense of the big picture moving forward. As usual, the Big Board is primarily based on my personal evaluations from both live viewings and on film, in many cases dating back several years. The rankings also incorporate feedback and opinions I glean from NBA executives, scouts, and others around the industry. This is not a mock draft, and team fit is not considered, but it is also intended to be somewhat
Read more

New on Sports Illustrated: The Patriots’ Post-Brady Era Begins Now

-
Image
In Mac Jones, Bill Belichick drafted a Round 1 quarterback for the first time ever—and looks to usher in a return to dominance. Of course the first time Bill Belichick drafts a first-round quarterback, it’s one for whom he could get an unvarnished scouting report from good buddy Nick Saban —and without even having to do any draft-day maneuvering. Now, the post-Tom Brady era in New England really begins. The Patriots treated 2020 as something of a gap year, with a league-high eight opt-outs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a starting quarterback, Cam Newton, who didn't sign with the team until June. They were, for the first time in two decades, mediocre, but that 7–9 record bought them the ticket to a fresh start: the No. 15 pick, which they used Thursday night on Alabama QB Mac Jones. The oft-cited statistic that Belichick had never drafted a QB higher than pick No. 62—used on Jimmy Garoppolo in 2014—was inherently flawed, given that Belichick had Brady as a starter for 19 of
Read more

New on Sports Illustrated: NCAA Board of Governors Unanimously Votes to Extend Mark Emmert’s Contract

-
Despite recent controversy, the NCAA Board of Governors voted unanimously to extend Mark Emmert's contract through 2025. The NCAA Board of Governors unanimously voted to extend president Mark Emmert's contract through Dec. 31, 2025. The news was announced Tuesday as a one-line news item buried within a larger update after the board's quarterly meeting. He's the fifth president in NCAA history and has been in the role since 2010. Emmert previously held high-ranking roles at Washington, LSU, Connecticut and Montana State. His base salary is reportedly $2.7 million.  Within the announcement, the Board reaffirmed its commitment to updating name, image and likeness rules. Dellenger: Inside the Hidden Industry of Name, Image and Likeness and the Changing World for College Athletes Emmert came under fire after disparities were shown between the men's and women's college basketball tournaments this year, specifically the weight room. Prior to the public backlash,
Read more