Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski humble as awards and acknowledgements flow in

In a year that most people are trying to forget, Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski had a 2020 to remember.

The 32-year-old striker, however, seems to appreciate the team achievements he was a part of even more than the spectacular individual accolades that he has gathered over the past few weeks.

“If you see what we did in this run it is amazing, spectacular — because we won everything that we could,” Lewandowski said to The Associated Press. “This is something special. All of these awards are the prizes for something special.”

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

The interview was conducted in conjunction with the Globe Soccer Player of the Year award, which Lewandowski was nominated for. The award is based on an online vote (insert eyeroll) and at the time the interview was released, Lewandowski was trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo (insert longer, more irritated eyeroll).

On the bright side, the best player on Earth was ahead of FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry, Lazio’s Ciro Immobile, Liverpool’s Sadio Mané and Paris Saint-Germain’s Marquinhos.

(Who the hell came up with this list???)

Anyway, Lewandowski told the AP that it did not bother him much that France Football declined to award the Ballon d’Or this season, which was — absurdly dumb and — unfortunate.

“It’s not important, because it’s something extra,” Lewandowski said. “If I win something, I’m very proud and very happy but I cannot get it. Someone made the decision like that and life goes on. If you see how many people, also players, they know what I did, what we did, in this season.”

When asked about how Bayern Munich got off to such a hot start after such a compact end to the 2019/2020 season, Lewandowski attributed the team’s focus and the lack of downtime.

“We didn’t have so (much time) to think about what we did,” Lewandowski said. “That was only time to rest and stay on the same high quality of focus on the game and next season.”

When the topic came up about what happens when his contract expires in 2023, Lewandowski indicated that he doesn’t think that far ahead (even if we at BFW do).

“I don’t know,” said Lewandowski. “Now I have the contract until ’23 and I never think what’s happening after. Two-and-a-half years more contract. So it’s a lot of time and I know that I can play longer, but I have enough time to think about this.”