Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski talks about winning the Champions League and the complexities of this season

In a recent interview with the Daily Mail, Robert Lewandowski spoke in detail about what it felt like to finally win the Champions League with Bayern Munich, completing what was another historic hat-trick with the club. He also spoke about the complexities associated with this season due to the severely truncated nature of the calendar brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Even for someone in as pristine shape as Lewandowski, the season brings its own set of physical, mental and emotional challenges.

Lewandowski lost to Bayern in the 2013 Champions League final when he was with Borussia Dortmund and came close to reaching the final several times with Bayern before last season. In a season that saw him leading the scoring charts in the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the DFB-Pokal, Lewandowski finally won the Champions League, albeit in the bubble-style tournament in Portugal in August. “Having it in our hands was amazing. That was the night [the final] when I knew I had achieved what I had been dreaming of all my life. It doesn’t matter how many times you have failed to win it. The only thing that matters is winning, ”said the prolific number 9, beating Paris Saint-Germain in the final.

He may not have been the first player to make this move either, but Lewandowski revealed that he took the Champions League trophy to bed with him. After all, this was the trophy he had dreamed of winning all his life and we’re pretty sure his wife Anna gave him a pass for it: “It was a very long night of celebrations and everyone wanted the trophy. I took it to bed! He was in my room and, for a few hours, my trophy. “

Part of being able to resume soccer games was getting players and staff members to agree to strict coronavirus guidelines and protocols, which included restrictions on who they could have human contact with. This turned out to be a difficult emotional task for most of the players and staff members because they had to go long periods without being able to see their friends and family. Lewandowski said it was certainly a difficult adjustment to make when football was allowed to resume. “It has been a great challenge to work perfectly in this situation. It is important to know your friends, your family. In this situation, you can’t. “

Photo of S. Mellar / FC Bayern via.

The situation also required a strong and collective mindset on the part of everyone in the team and it was clearly evident that Bayern were on the same page on the road to winning the treble. It was especially difficult, said Lewandowski, without the support of the fans in the stadium (s): “It is a great challenge for our mentality. It was a difficult situation, playing without fans, without atmosphere in the stadium. It wasn’t just the specific nature of soccer. It was also in our private lives. This was something new. We didn’t want it, nobody wanted it. “

Despite Lewandowski being in superhuman shape, the rapid shift from last season to this season has presented a physical challenge unlike any seen before on Europe’s top flights. “After this season in which we closed in Portugal and opened the new one, with so little time to prepare, it is very hard, very hard on the body, explains the Polish international. Every player, every team. It will be impossible to compare this season with last year or next year. This is very difficult. So many games, such a difficult time and then the European Championship straight away. You have to think about your body and, in March, what it will be like. Will we be ready when the biggest games arrive? But you are a professional footballer and you have to adapt, “he explained.

The Polish ace has already found the back of the net 12 times in the Bundesliga this season after having already rested for one of his matches, which was 2-1 over FC Köln. He has also provided 4 assists in the league and scored 3 goals in the Champions League. Even with the truncated schedule and immense physical challenges, he’s off to a good start and is on track for another remarkable season leading the line for Bayern.