TheNewsGuru

Tag: Lewandowski

  • Ballon d’Or snub: Lewandowski hits out at Messi’s ’empty words’

    Ballon d’Or snub: Lewandowski hits out at Messi’s ’empty words’

    Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski says he should’ve won the Ballon d’Or last week – and wants a statement from the winner, PSG attacker Lionel Messi.

    In the 2020/21 season, Lewandowski scored an incredible 48 goals and provided nine assists in 40 matches in all competitions, as Bayern won the Bundesliga, DFL-Supercup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. While during this campaign he has notched up 16 Bundesliga goals in 14 games.

    “I felt sadness,” Lewandowski told Kanale Sportowym. “I can’t deny it.

    “I can’t say I was happy, on the contrary. I have a feeling of sadness. To be so close, to compete with Messi, of course I respect how he plays and what he has achieved. The mere fact that I was able to compete with him shows me the level that I was able to reach.”

    The Bayern Munich striker also took aim at Barcelona great Messi, after the PSG forward urged France Football to award the 2020 Ballon d’Or to Lewandowski.

    “I’m not that enthusiastic about getting the 2020 award,” Lewandowski said.

    “I would like it [Messi’s 2020 Ballon d’Or statement] to be a sincere and courteous statement from a great player and not just an empty words.”

  • Messi didn’t deserve 2021 Ballon d’Or – Matthaus

    Messi didn’t deserve 2021 Ballon d’Or – Matthaus

    Germany World Cup winner Lothar Matthaus has slammed the Ballon d’Or voting.

    PSG star Leo Messi won the award for his work with Barcelona and Argentina. But Matthaus insists Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski deserved the title.

    “Honestly, I don’t understand anything anymore,” said Matthaus.

    “With all due respect to Messi and the other great players named, none deserved it as much as Lewandowski.”

    Bayern chief exec Oliver Kahn also said in reaction: “Even without the Ballon d’Or, Lewy made it to the Olympus of soccer greats a long time ago.

    “He will continue to be a candidate (for the Ballon d’Or) in the coming years.”

  • Bayern diplomatic after Lewandowski Ballon d’Or snub

    Bayern diplomatic after Lewandowski Ballon d’Or snub

    Robert Lewandowski and FC Bayern Munich did their best to hide their disappointment after Lionel Messi beat him to the Ballon d’Or.

    However, former Bayern star, Lothar Matthaeus, was adamant the Poland striker should have won.

    Lewandowski was awarded the new striker of the year award at the gala in Paris on Monday after journalists had decided France Football’s big prize should go to Lionel Messi for a record-extending seventh time.

    Messi won a major international honour this year as Argentina captured the Copa America but Matthaeus was staggered that Lewandowski’s record 41 goals in a Bundesliga season was not enough for the Ballon d’Or.

    “Honestly, I don’t understand the world any more after this vote.

    “I have huge respect for Messi and the other great players who were nominated, but nobody deserved it more than Lewandowski,” former Germany player Matthaeus, who won the prize while at Inter Milan in 1990, told Sky.

    Lewandowski’s claims to the Ballon d’Or were strengthened by the fact most pundits accepted he would have won it in 2020 had the award not been cancelled because of Covid-19.

    Last year he led Bayern to a Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup treble with another glut of goals.

    He at least won FIFA’s rival player of the year award in 2020 and was magnanimous as he picked up his striker gong at the Chatelet Theatre.

    “I am very proud to be here. I have to say thanks to my team-mates, my coach and above all the fans. And a very special thanks to my family,” said the 33-year-old.

    To be fair to Messi, he realised he was fortunate to take another Ballon d’Or after only winning the Copa del Rey with troubled Barcelona last season before switching to Paris Saint-Germain.

    “It is an honour to be here with you. You have broken records and would have also deserved to win the Ballon d’Or. You had an unbelievable year,” he said to Lewandowski.

    Bayern chief executive, Oliver Kahn, was as diplomatic as possible.

    “Congratulations to Lionel Messi.

    “But along with his striker of the year award, Robert Lewandowski would have also deserved the Ballon d’Or because for years he has been absolutely outstanding every day,” he said.

    Bayern also saw Jamal Musiala finish third in the Kopa Trophy young player vote behind winner Pedri of Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund’s England midfielder, Jude Bellingham.

    Manuel Neuer was fifth in the best goalkeeper category.

  • Lewandowski, Pedri win big at 2021 Ballon d’Or

    Lewandowski, Pedri win big at 2021 Ballon d’Or

    Bayern Munich and Poland striker Robert Lewandowski wins one of two new awards as the best striker at 2021 Ballon d’Or awards.

    Barcelona and Spain wonderkid, Pedri beats Jamal Musiala in second place and Jude Bellingham in third to win 2021 Kopa trophy.

  • Suarez tells organisers: Give 2021 Ballon d’Or to Lewandowski

    Suarez tells organisers: Give 2021 Ballon d’Or to Lewandowski

    Atletico Madrid striker Luis Suarez has made a U-turn on his choice of who wins the 2021 ballon d’Or.

    The Uruguay international, who had back in October tipped former Barcelona teammate, Lionel Messi for the award, saying, “Because in the Ballon d’Or you should not only look at what one has done in the year, but also you have to see what he is like as a player, seeing what he does year after year. I think he has no rival,” now claims he will give Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski his own Ballon d’Or trophy should the Polish striker not win this year’s prize.

    Lewandowski appears among the favourites to win the ballon d’Or later this month following another stunning 12 months of action for both club and country.

    The Polish netted 55 times in 47 appearances for Bayern Munich during the 2019-20 season and scored another 48 in 40 last season

    He was the 2020 FIFA Best Men’s Player and was hoping to add the ballon d’Or before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

    This year, Lionel Messi, Jorginho and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the other top names lined up for the award.

    But Suarez, Messi’s friend and former teammate at Barcelona thinks Lewandowski should be crowned.

    Suarez told Carrusel Deportivo as per EuroSport: “Give Lewandowski the Ballon d’Or, damn it! If not, I’ll give you mine!”

  • UCL: Muller haunts Barca again at Camp Nou

    UCL: Muller haunts Barca again at Camp Nou

    Goals from Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski settled a battle of the big two in Champions League Group E as Bayern Munich claimed a dominant opening-game victory at Barcelona.

    The German champions controlled the game, with Muller scoring his seventh career goal against Barca courtesy of a first-half effort that found the net off Eric Garcia’s back.

    Lewandowski made sure of the win with a typical predatory finish, poking his 74th Champions League goal into an empty net after Jamal Musiala’s drive had cannoned back off the post.

    His 75th came late in the game, as he once again showed his talent in front of goal with a lashed finish after Serge Gnabry’s shot had come back off the post and fell to him in the box.

    Barca, playing their first Champions League since the departure of talisman Lionel Messi, were flat and offered little, failing to muster a single shot on target.

    They ended the game with four teenagers on the pitch, which did at least inject some urgency and lift a subdued crowd of just short of 40,000 because of Covid-19 restrictions.

    They were still thoroughly outclassed, though, and by a Bayern team that were not even at their best.

    The German side lead the group, with the other game, between Benfica and Dinamo Kiev, finishing 0-0.

  • Bundesliga: Lewandowski scores 300th goal for Bayern Munich

    Bundesliga: Lewandowski scores 300th goal for Bayern Munich

    Robert Lewandowski brought up his triple century of goals for Bayern Munich on Saturday as the Poland star’s hat-trick helped the Bundesliga champions breeze past Hertha Berlin 5-0 in a one-sided encounter.

    Lewandowski picked up right where he left off at the end of the last Bundesliga season and went into the weekend clash with two goals in as many games.

    And he is now right back on top of the league scoring charts, which he has topped for six of the last eight years.

    In 2020-21 the Polish striker set a new personal season best, netting an incredible 41 goals in 29 Bundesliga games to mark his biggest league return since arriving in the German top flight with Borussia Dortmund back in 2010.

  • Werder Bremen relegated, Lewandowski gets scoring record on 41

    Werder Bremen relegated, Lewandowski gets scoring record on 41

    Four-time champions Werder Bremen lost 2-4 against Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday to be relegated for the second time in club history.

    But, as for Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, he bettered the Bundesliga scoring record to 41 goals in a season.

    Lars Stindl, Marcus Thuram, Ramy Bensebaini and Florian Neuhaus scored for Gladbach as the return of Thomas Schaaf to the Bremen helm in a last-gasp rescue mission was to no avail.

    Werder Bremen missed the relegation play-off and went straight down along with Schalke 04 because Cologne beat Schalke 1-0 from Sebastiaan Bornauw’s 86th-minute winner.

    It helped them to move ahead of Bremen into the play-off against the third-placed team from the second division.

    “It is tough to say something. I had hoped to help a little more but it was not to be,” said Schaaf whose financially troubled club faces an uncertain future.

    “We don’t have to tak about tomorrow or the day after. This knocks us off our legs enough.”

    There was total silence in Bremen after the final whistle as Gladbach’s victory was to no avail either.

    This was because Max Kruse scored a stoppage time 2-1 winner for Union Berlin who needed full points to remain seventh for a place in the new European Conference League.

    Champions Bayern Munich received the trophy for a ninth straight title after a 5-2 victory over Augsburg in the final game of their coach Hansi Flick.

    Lewandowski got sole possession of the scoring record ahead of Gerd Mueller with a 90th-minute tap-in.

    Werder Bremen parted ways with coach Florian Kohfeldt last Sunday and brought back their 2004 double-winning helmsman Schaaf.

    But Stindl calmly fired Gladbach’s opener into the bottom right corner just three minutes into the game.

    Davie Selke should have levelled 15 minutes later but instead Thuram made it 2-0 on the counter and Bensebaini’s classy back-header and Neuhaus wrapped up matters for Gladbach.

    They however finished eighth in a season that nose-dived after coach Marco Rose had said he would move on to Bourssia Dortmund.

    Milot Rashica and Niclas Fuellkrug then scored for Werder Bremen who lost for the ninth time in 10 winless games.

    But their relegation for the second time after 1980 was sealed in Cologne where the hosts thought they broke the deadlock from Sebastian Andersson’s tap-in in the 70th minute.

    But the goal was disallowed over a foul in the build-up upon video review.

    However, there were no complaints in the 86th minute over Bornauw’s header which earned Cologne a lifeline to avoid a seventh drop.

    “That was an emotional roller-coaster,” Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn said.

    In Munich, the champions led 4-0 at half-time from Jeffrey Gouweleeuw’s own goal, Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich and Kingsley Coman.

    This was before Andre Hahn and Florian Niederlechner netted for the visitors who had earlier missed a penalty kick from Daniel Caligiuri.

    Lewandowski was frustrated by goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz on several occasions but when his Polish compatriot failed to hold on to a shot from Leroy Sane he was there to tap in for 5-2.

    It helped him to complete a sixth league top scorer crown with the 41-goal record.

    “I have no words, when you try for 90 minutes and get the goal in the last minute. Thankfully I made it, I am very happy,” Lewandowski said. “You have to fight for a legendary record like this.”

    The departing trio of David Alaba, Jerome Boateng and Javi Martinez then lifted the trophy as the team celebrated in front of the 250 fans permitted to attend the game.

    Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 to finish third ahead of Wolfsburg who lost 3-2 against Mainz.

    Eintracht Frankfurt beat Freiburg 3-1, Hoffenheim prevailed 2-1 over Hertha Berlin and Arminia Bielefeld won 2-0 at VfB Stuttgart.

  • Chelsea make contact with Robert Lewandowski

    Chelsea make contact with Robert Lewandowski

    Premier League club Chelsea have made contact with Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, according to Sky Sport in Germany.

    Lewandowski has enjoyed another stellar season in the Bundesliga and Bayern are in no mood to countenance the Poland international’s departure.

    However, that has not stopped rumours swirling around his future, with the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain linked with an approach.

    Chelsea are also said to have made their interest known to Lewandowski, but the Premier League is not viewed as the most attractive destination for the forward, who reportedly has Spain as a preference if he is to move.

  • Lewandowski receives state honour from Polish president

    Lewandowski receives state honour from Polish president

    Poland and Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski on Monday was awarded Commander’s Cross of the Polonia Restituta Order, one of the highest state honours, by Polish President Andrzej Duda.

    World Player of the Year Lewandowski was awarded for his accomplishments in football as well as promoting Poland abroad.

    During a ceremony at the presidential palace in Warsaw, the Polish president called Lewandowski “a national sports hero” and “the quintessence of perfection”, in praising the footballer for his hard work.

    The Bayern Munich star underlined the role of his team-mates, coaches, family and friends, and stressed his focus on the challenges yet to come.

    “Perhaps, when I sit on the couch I will think about the trophies won …

    “But for now my ambition is big enough that I don’t want to become complacent,” said 32-year-old Lewandowski, who helped Bayern Munich to a treble of domestic league, Cup and UEFA Champions League last season.

    Lewandowski is currently leading the Bundesliga’s scoring charts with 35 goals and has recently become the second all-time goalscorer of the league, behind Gerd Mueller.

    He is within reach of Mueller’s long-standing record of 40 goals scored in one season.

    In his 10 full Bundesliga seasons, Lewandowski has collected eight championships, six with Bayern Munich and two with Borussia Dortmund where he played 2010 to 2014.

    In the Polish national team, Lewandowski played 116 games and scored 63 goals, both national records.