The goalscoring void left by Lewandowski's absence

Bayern Munich are readying themselves to step into the ring without gloves this weekend. They've fallen victim to the FIFA virus, as Robert Lewandowski has returned from international duty with an injury that will keep him out for a month.

Lewandowski missed Poland's game against England after having fallen injured in their 3-0 win over Andorra, in which he scored twice to reach 66 international goals and place himself as Europe's seventh-highest international goalscorer.

"It's a setback of course," Thomas Muller said on Instagram. "Others will play, as has happened on other occasions, but it's not easy to find a replacement who will score as many goals."

"He has pain in his knee," said Poland boss Paulo Sousa, while Bayern have since confirmed that he has suffered a ligament strain in his right knee.

Lewandowski is going to have to miss out on the first and second leg of his side's Champions League quarter-final tie against Paris Saint-Germain, as well as the Bundesliga games against RB Leipzig, Union Berlin, Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Mainz. Should Bayern progress, he might be back in time for the Champions League semi-finals.

Leon Goretzka acknowledged that the No.9's goals "make like easier" for Bayern, and he's got 42 in 36 games so far this season. Thirty-five of those have come in 25 Bundesliga appearances, and he's leading the race for the European Golden Shoe.

Before his injury, the striker had his sights set on getting past the 40-goal mark for the season domestically.

"It would mean a lot," Lewandowski told Bild, while Muller explained that "he knows how important he is for the team".

Lewandowski has scored 22 goals in 18 appearances for the German club in 2021, and he has 288 in 325 appearances since joining the club, an impressive 31.2 percent of all Bayern's goals since then.

This season, he's scored 36.5 percent of their goals, scoring an average of 1.16 goals per game. While that figure is 28.1 percent in the Champions League since 2014.

Lewandowski has 73 goals in the competition now, edging ahead of Raul Gonzalez's 71 and trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo's 134 and Lionel Messi's 120.

Serge Gnabry or Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting will have to step up to replace him, but Lewandowski's are big boots to fill.