Robert Lewandowski could have missed his chance to break Gerd Muller's record for goals in a single Bundesliga season, former Bayern Munich forward Roy Makaay says.

Poland striker Lewandowski suffered knee ligament damage in the 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Andorra and is facing a month out of action.

The 32-year-old will miss both legs of the Champions League quarter-final with Paris Saint-Germain and most likely league matches against RB Leipzig, Union Berlin, Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Mainz.

With 35 goals scored in the first 25 matchdays of the Bundesliga season, Lewandowski had looked almost certain to match Muller's famous landmark of 40, set back in 1971-72.

However, given the league leaders have only three matches remaining after they face Mainz on April 24, Makaay thinks the record could have slipped beyond Lewandowski's reach.

The former Netherlands international is also concerned about the options available to coach Hansi Flick when it comes to finding a replacement striker.

"For me, Lewandowski has been the best centre-forward in the world for years. What he does inside and outside the penalty area as a number nine is unbelievable," he told Spox.

"It certainly won't be easy [now] for Lewandowski to break the record. This absence is not good news for Bayern. As for his replacement, you'd have to make that [decision] dependent on the opposition. [Serge] Gnabry is more agile than [Eric Maxim] Choupo-Moting."

However, Makaay remains convinced Lewandowski has plenty yet to offer Bayern in seasons to come, suggesting there would be no pressing need to try to sign Borussia Dortmund sensation Erling Haaland.

"Anyone who scores so consistently at that age can only have a great future ahead of them," Makaay said of the Norway star. "But Lewandowski still has a few very good years ahead of him, I'm sure of that."

Makaay, twice a domestic double winner with Bayern, would have relished the chance to play alongside Lewandowski but also identified two other key players he feels would have made his life as a forward easier.

"Lewandowski and I would certainly have made a good partnership, but I'd also have liked to play with a guy like Thomas Muller," he said.

"The person I really like as a personality is Joshua Kimmich. You want a player like that behind you as a striker. In my time, we had Michael Ballack and later Schweini [Bastian Schweinsteiger] – they weren't too bad, either."

Erling Haaland became the fastest player to reach 10 goals for one team in Champions League history as he played a leading role for Borussia Dortmund against Sevilla on Wednesday.  

The Norwegian was on target twice in the opening half as Dortmund impressively recovered after falling behind in the first leg of the last-16 tie.  

Suso's seventh-minute opener put Sevilla on top, only for Mahmoud Dahoud to equalise with a long-range attempt.  

Haaland bravely converted Jadon Sancho's throughball to put the visitors ahead at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, then added another before the break as he clinically finished off a flowing counter-attacking move, placing in a shot from Marco Reus' pass.  

The two-goal salvo lifted him to double figures for Dortmund in the Champions League in just his seventh appearance. Roy Makaay was previously the quickest to do so for one club, managing it in 10 games for Bayern Munich.

For a third successive European game, Haaland managed to score a brace. He had also found the net twice in back-to-back fixtures against Club Brugge in the group stage. Only four other players have achieved the feat, with the 20-year-old joining illustrious company. 

Cristiano Ronaldo has managed it no fewer than three times, along with former Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski, Bayern legend Giovane Elber and two-time Champions League winner Filippo Inzaghi.

Haaland now has 18 goals in 13 appearances in the competition – a tally that only Lewandowski can match since the start of the 2019-20 season.

To put his scoring exploits in perspective, Ronaldo failed to find the net in his first 13 Champions League games, while Lionel Messi managed three goals across the same number.

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