Lewandowski out to finally outwit Hart

Dortmund have picked up 11 points from their opening five Champions League group games, and entertain Roberto Mancini's men in Gelsenkirchen having already secured their passage into the last 16.

Lewandowski has notched four goals in Europe in 2012/13, but he is yet to beat City's shot-stopper Hart after two recent duels at both club and international level.

England's No.1 was in sparkling form to thwart the Polish striker when the sides met at the Etihad Stadium earlier in the competition, before also shutting out the former Lech Poznan front-man in a rain-affected 2014 World Cup qualifier in Warsaw.

But the 24-year-old has his eye on revenge, either in Tuesday's Champions League meeting at Westfalonstadion or in the return World Cup fixture at Wembley.

Speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo, Lewandowski said: "I hope I will beat him more than once in future. If we both run out onto the pitch at Wembley, I will try to outwit him.

"On the other hand, if my team wins, I will not despair. For me the most important thing is the good of the team.

"But I hope that in October 2013 [when England host Poland] in London I will finally beat Hart."

Lewandowski has already beaten Spain's star custoian Iker Casillas this season, scoring in Dortmund's 2-1 win over Real Madrid in October.

"I treat it like any other goal. I am happy with winning the first game and also with the score of a second game [2-2 in Madrid] when I had an assist.

"I was expecting that Marco Reus will be just in that sector of pitch, where was more space. So I passed the ball. Of course we can't forget that Marco finished this action and scored a goal in the great way. I only wish that I was a little bit lonely in attack and I was not able to reach a good situation.

"But when you're playing against Real at Santiago Bernabeu, you can't despise a draw."

Garnering a reputation for providing assists as well as scoring, Lewandowski will be aiming to add to his season stats as Dortmund progress into the Champions League knockout phase.

To read more from Robert Lewandowski, grab the January 2013 issue of FourFourTwo magazine - in shops from Wednesday 5th December 2012. Subscribe!

By Nicholas Fox

Gregg Davies

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.