Robert Lewandowski discusses Bayern’s shot at global glory
He reflects on winning The Best FIFA Men’s Player award
“I try to be the best Lewandowski every season.”
The Best is in the building. Robert Lewandowski touched down in Doha yesterday for the FIFA Club World Cup™.
His 24 goals in 19 appearances have FC Bayern München top of the Bundesliga, and now he’ll look to put Al Ahly SC to the sword in Monday’s semi-final. The Qatar 2020 trophy would complete a historic sextuple for the Bavarian behemoths and equal the feat of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona in 2009/10.
Lewandowski chatted to FIFA.com about that mission, their UEFA Champions League triumph, being crowned The Best FIFA Men’s Player and whether he’s at his peak.
FIFA.com: This will be your first Club World Cup. Do you think it will be special?
Robert Lewandowski: Yeah, I think so. It will be really special for us, not only for me. It’s the best team in Europe playing against the best teams from other [continents]. It will be, for us, a new challenge. We want to win this title, for sure.
Will playing against teams from different parts of the world, with different styles, be a challenge?
It will be nothing new for us. We play a lot of games in our national teams against teams from all around the world. It will be special, but we are ready for this. We’re ready to try and win the next title. We’ve won everything that we could have won from [2020]. This is the last title we can win. We know we’re playing against the best teams from continents all over the world. It’s our next challenge and we’re ready for it.
First up you have Al Ahly in the semi-finals…
If you’re here at this competition, it means you’re a strong team. But it doesn’t matter how good they are – we have to be better. We have to fight for this win. We have to push from the first minute. We have to show our best skills, give our best football and then we have the chance to beat them.
Are things more challenging this season?
Now, because of COVID, we have to play almost every three days. It’s a big, big challenge for every team, not only for us. Usually you get one week, sometimes two weeks between games, and this is huge. We also know that we have the European Championship after this season. We have to be ready, we have to stay in form the whole season. This is the big challenge, but we are ready for it because we knew before the season started something like this could happen. If we have the chance to win something, we have to be strong, we have to be focused.
How did it feel to win the Champions League?
It was an amazing feeling, an amazing night for us. The whole day of the final was so memorable. The first few seconds after the final whistle, what I felt was something special. I didn’t exactly know what it meant, but I can say that the dream had come true.
Would winning the Club World Cup put the icing on the cake for Bayern?
Yeah, exactly. I think if we win this Club World Cup it would complete one of the biggest historical achievements in all of football. We know we are so close, but we have to stay 100-per-cent concentrated. It would be really special. Not just for Bayern or for Germany, but it would be one of the biggest historical achievements from all over the world.
How much did winning The Best FIFA Men’s Player mean to you?
A lot, a lot. In the first moments you don’t realise exactly what it means, but over the next days and weeks you realise that you’ve won maybe the most important title in your life. It was amazing. But I know that what I won was because of what we won as a team. I hope we can continue winning titles.
You’re scoring goals relentlessly. Do you think this is the best version of Lewandowski we’ve ever seen.
I’m trying to keep doing these things. For years I’ve been hearing that this is the best Lewandowski. It doesn’t matter how old I am. I can still get better, improve my skills. But I know that I’m feeling good. I try to be the best Lewandowski every season.