Robert Lewandowski 2020

Robert LEWAN DOWS KI

Success…Lewy saw off De Bruyne and Ronaldo to win the award

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Worthy recognition after Ballon d’Or snub

Bayern Munich, Robert Lewandowski and Hansi Flick ki and Hansi Flick made voting for this made voting for this year’s ’s awards incredibly easy byawards incredibly easy by being quite clearly the best Team, being quite clearly the best Team, PlayePlayer and Manager in the world r and Manager in the world re respectively. Their achispectively. Their achievementsevements made this year made this year’s ’s results the most results the most comprehensive for a while.

The fact that so many of their The fact that so many of their other playeother players also picked up votes rs also picked up votes demonstrates just how good they ’ve been, and, in most cases, is testament to Flick’s coaching ability too: under his guidance, Alphonso Davies has gone from a promising young winger to one of the world’s best full-backs, while Joshua Kimmich has made the reverse transition, switching from marauding right-back to midfield dictator. Serge Gnabry ’s rise from Premier League reject to world-class winger has been well-documented, but there is no doubt that Flick has had a massive influence on him too.

Even the team’s most experienced players have benefitted from the former Germany assistant’s tutelage: captain Manuel Neuer was a popular choice among voters after returning to top form following injury problems, while Thomas Muller has developed into the team’s creator-in-chief – registering a Bundesliga record 21 assists – just a year after being discarded from the German national team. Both Neuer and Muller made it into the top ten.

But it was goalscorer extraordinaire Lewandowski who stole the show.

“He is the most professional player I have ever met,” said Pep Guardiola of Lewandowski. High praise indeed from a man who has spent his entire coaching career working with only the elite.

Yet while the legendary Poland striker has always been an exceptional talent, in 2020 he secured his status as undoubtedly one of the finest centreforwards of his generation, with the 32-year-old’s goalscoring exploits guiding Bayern Munich to a famous Champions League, Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal treble.

Since 2008, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the prestigious Wor ld Soccer Player award, with Xavi and Luka Modric bucking the trend in 2010 and 2018 respectively. Yet only Messi – in 2012 and 2015

Celebrations… another goal for Lewy

– has managed to win it with a better goal return than Lewandowski.

The numbers have been frightening. He ended the campaign as top scorer in the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League with a total of 55 goals. Over the entirety of the campaign, Lewandowski only failed to hit the back of the net in nine of his 47 appearances in all competitions.

In the Champions League he scored ten times in the group stage alone, and ended the campaign with 15 goals. Only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more in a single season, yet his all-time record of 17 would almost certainly have been beaten if this year’s knockout stages had been over two legs instead of just one. Lewandowski’s tally of 34 Bundesliga goals was a personal best too, coming in just 31 games at an average of one every 81 minutes.

The records haven’t stopped tumbling in the new season either. In October, he scored his second Bundesliga hat-trick of the season to take him to ten goals in just his fifth match – nobody has ever reached the milestone quicker. Thomas Muller believes that his team-mate can

match Gerd Muller’s record of 40 Bundesliga goals in one season. “When you see how consistently he scores, it’s within the realm of possibility,” said his Bayern compatriot.

The treble took the Poland captain to 248 Bundesliga goals. The all-time record of 365, also held by Gerd Muller, once seemed like a distant dream, but now is well within his sights. The Pole turned 32 in August, and insists that he wants to stay at Bayern until he’s 40. Who knows how many goals he will have scored by then?

Looking at the statistics, it is easy

to understand why so many deem Lewandowski to have been robbed of the Ballon d’Or award after it was cancelled for the first time due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. When asked by Sportowe Fakty which player he felt deserved to win the 2020 Ballon d’Or, Lewandowski simply replied: “Me. We won everything we could with Bayern Munich. In every competition – Bundesliga, German Cup and the Champions League – I was top scorer. “I think a player who achieves this would win the Ballon d’Or.” It is hard to disagree. Hansi Flick, acknowledges that he is lucky enough to have the best striker in the world at his disposal. “He is one of the most complete strikers around, if not the best No.9 in the world,” he says. “He has everything you need up front. He can head the ball, finish and hold it up. His work off the ball is important for the team.” While Lewandowski’s goals take the headlines, his work off the ball is just as appreciated by his team-mates, and another reason why he is regarded as the planet’s best striker. Since 2008, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the prestigious award...yet only Messi – in 2012 and 2015 – has managed to win it with a better goal return than Lewandowski

While he is loved in Bavaria, in Poland he is a national hero. With the exception of 2018, he has been named Polish Footballer of the Year every year since 2011, an honour that he will undoubtedly claim in 2020 as well. In the last year he’s strengthened his position as Poland’s all-time top goalscorer even further. A brace against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Nations League in October took him to 63 goals in 114 caps. That record is unlikely to ever be beaten, although only two of those goals have come at a major tournament, a record that he would like to improve next summer at the Euros.

And why shouldn’t it? In 2020 Lewandowski has banished any lingering question marks against his record, finally winning his first Champions League trophy and scoring vital goals along the way. Right now, he is simply untouchable as the most devastating attacker on the planet, and more determined than ever to be recognised as such. Even after having achieved so much, he has plenty of targets on the horizon, and he doesn’t look like missing.

Top 10 Players of 2020

Player Club Country Points

1) Robert Lewandowski Bayern Munich Poland 187 2) Kevin De Bruyne Manchester City Belgium 63 3) Lionel Messi Barcelona Argentina 56 4) Sadio Mane Liverpool Senegal 34 5) Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus Por tugal 33 6) Virgil van Dijk Liverpool Netherlands 27 7=) Thomas Muller Bayern Munich Germany 21 7=) Neymar Paris Saint-Germain Brazil 21 7=) Manuel Neuer Bayern Munich Germany 21 10) Kylian Mbappe Paris Saint-Germain France 17

Treble…Lewandowski won three trophies with Bayern Munich

Other World Soccer Award winners 2020

Champions of Europe…six-time winners

TEAM OF THE YEAR: Bayern Munich MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Hansi Flick, Bayern Munich

Inaugural winner… Harder won the first-ever women’s Player prize

WOMEN’S AWARDS PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Pernille Harder, Chelsea & Denmark TEAM OF THE YEAR: Lyon COACH OF THE YEAR: Jean-Luc Vasseur, Lyon