Poland boss stands up for misfiring Robert Lewandowski

Poland coach Adam Nawalka doesn’t want his star striker Robert Lewandowski compared to Cristiano Ronaldo as he searches for his first goal of Euro 2016 against Switzerland in St Etienne today.

Bayern Munich forward Lewandowski, who scored 42 goals for his club last season including five in nine minutes against Wolfsburg in a Bundesliga match, is struggling to live up to expectations in France where he is yet to find the net.

However, although Portugal’s Ronaldo went through exactly the same thing before bursting into life against Hungary recently, Nawalka is furious that the two could be compared ahead of today’s last-16 clash.

He said “We don’t have a single problem with the fact that Robert hasn’t scored so far. He’s doing a great job for our side.

“We are a team that understands each other very well and knows that what’s good for the team is the most important thing.

Robert Lewandowski is doing very well in his role. So I don’t like those comparisons, I don’t want them.”

Poland’s real strength so far has been at the back rather than up front.

They haven’t conceded a single goal in the tournament so far, including holding world champions Germany to a 0-0 draw, one of only two teams in the competition with a perfect defensive record.

However, Switzerland defender Stephan Lichtsteiner, who plays for Italian giants Juventus, has no doubts about who their dangerman will be in St Etienne as the teams battle for a place in the quarter-finals.

He said: “If a striker doesn’t score for three games it doesn’t mean he’s no good any more. He’s one of the best strikers in the world for me. He can be a problem for us.”

Switzerland head coach Vladimir Petkovic also has an issue with strikers who don’t score and wants his team need to be more ruthless, having only scored twice in three games. But he says he isn’t panicking.

He said: “It’s not only down to the strikers to score a goal. You shouldn’t put too much pressure on them.

“We have to be dangerous from all of our team. I counted at least 15 chances created from three games which is not bad.

“But we need to be more clinical. We want to make history with this team and go as far as we can in the tournament.”