Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski has heaped praise on Barcelona captain Lionel Messi and thinks it could be another century until we see another player of the Argentine’s quality.
Lewandowski, who was part of the Bayern side that beat Barcelona 8-2 in the Champions League quarter-finals in 2019-20, spoke to Ole about just how highly he regards the 33-year-old.
He is a great player, one of the greatest in the history of football. I know that the expectations around him are enormous and what he has already achieved as a footballer is something that perhaps no one will achieve. Maybe you have to wait 100 years for someone like him to be born again. With what he has already done, he is and will be one of the greatest in all of history.
The Bayern striker has had a phenomenal year, helping the Bavarian giants win the treble. Lewandowski scored an incredible 55 goals in all competitions and was the favorite to win the 2020 Ballon d’Or before the prestigious award was canceled for the first time in its history because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on soccer.
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Messi and Lewandowski Battle to Be the Best
The cancellation means that the Ballon d’Or will remain with Messi for another year. The Barca skipper claimed the trophy for a record sixth time in December 2019, beating off competition from Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
Yet Messi may miss out on another award to Lewandowski later this month. The duo are both on the shortlist for the 2020 FIFA The Best Men’s Player of the Year award which will be handed out on December 17.
🏆 Nominees: #TheBest FIFA Men’s Player
🇪🇸 Thiago Alcântara
🇵🇹 Cristiano Ronaldo
🇧🇪 Kevin De Bruyne
🇵🇱 Robert Lewandowski
🇸🇳 Sadio Mane
🇫🇷 Kylian Mbappe
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi
🇧🇷 Neymar
🇪🇸 Sergio Ramos
🇪🇬 Mohamed Salah
🇳🇱 Virgil van Dijk
ℹ️🗳️ t.co/fqPa5jbedh
Messi won the award last year but looks set to be succeeded by Lewandowski following his incredible goalscoring exploits and success at home and abroad with Bayern. Lewandowski has continued his fine form in 2020-21, netting 12 goals in 8 Bundesliga outings for the defending champions.
Lewandowski Tipped for Glory
Bayern chief executive officer Karl-Heinz Rummenigge certainly thinks that Lewandowski deserves some personal recognition and spoke about the striker and his recent achievements in an interview with Bundesliga.com.
I hope that Robert wins, he’s had an amazing year, I think Robert Lewandowski is in the form of his life, despite the fact he’s 32 now, but it’s not a foregone conclusion. I would like him to win, I hope he wins, he’ll have earned it, but we’ll have to wait and see if he does win it at the end of the day.
Lewandowski’s success came in a season where Barcelona and Messi finished the 2019-20 campaign empty-handed after throwing away a lead in La Liga and being knocked out of the Copa de Rey by Athletic.
The Champions League humbling was the lowest point of a chaotic campaign for Barca, although Messi did finish the season as Spain’s top scorer once again.
The Argentine ended up with 25 La Liga goals from 33 matches, finishing four ahead of his nearest rival Karim Benzema. It was the seventh time Messi picked up the Pichichi Trophy, a new La Liga record.
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