On October 29th, German newspaper Bild reported the ‘all clear’ for Robert Lewandowski. Despite coming off against RB Leipzig, it was reported the Polish striker was simply suffering from a bit of cramp and would be ready for the Celtic match.
Even then it wasn’t considered a natural progression that Lewandowski would play against Brendan Rodgers’ men, given Bayern Munich’s reliance on the player.
There quickly followed questions in the German media about adding to the Bayern squad in January, to try and take some weight off Lewandowski, comments encouraged by some inside the club.
With Bayern then leaving the striker out for the trip to Celtic Park, the questions were further pushed.
Bild worry that’s led to claims Bayern are ‘arrogant and disrespectful’, and not taking the Celtic game seriously enough. Jupp Heynckes has distanced himself from the comments and insists Celtic are being taken seriously.
Whilst Heynckes will be absolutely sincere in his words, and probably annoyed with Rummenigge, there can be little doubt the latter represents Bayern as a club.
Rummenigge is arrogant, Bayern is an arrogant football club, it’s somewhat in their DNA. But that’s not the situation and causation with Lewandowski missing the Celtic match, with the player’s fitness, and him getting some rest, a genuine concern recently.
