Hansi Flick: "Robert Lewandowski deserves FIFA best player award"
Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick says the reigning German and European champions' star striker Robert Lewandowski deserved to win The Best FIFA Men's Player award for 2020.
Lewandowksi was key to Bayern winning a treble of Bundesliga, DFB Cup, and UEFA Champions League titles in 2019/20, finishing with a staggering 55 goals for the season. He was only the second player to win all three trophies while also top scoring in each competition, and he lifted the DFL Supercup and the UEFA Super Cup as well.
The Polish striker was named ahead of Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus for the prestigious FIFA prize, which recognises achievements between 20 July 2019 and 7 October 2020.
Watch: The best of Lewandowski at Bayern
Bayern boss Flick, who was been nominated for The Best FIFA Men's Coach honour, said Lewandowski was the obvious candidate to be officially recognised at the world's best player in 2020.
"It's a big goal for him and a big dream, and I think no one deserves it as much as Robert really does this year," Flick said on the eve of Bayern's home match with Wolfsburg, two days before the award was announced.
"I think the whole team, the whole club, and all the fans are crossing their fingers for him that [the dream] comes true. We'll all be happy if he gets the award on Thursday."
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Lewandowski had already been named as UEFA Men's Player of the Year, and earlier this week the 32-year-old was announced as the Golden Player at the Golden Boy Awards - with Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland also a major prize winner at that event.
Bayern's Manuel Neuer also claimed a prize as The Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper, but Flick preferred to talk about how the record German champions would go about trying to get back above Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga table.
With that in mind he praised the "amazing" qualities of in-form winger Kingsley Coman, while also backing Leroy Sane to rediscover his best form. The summer signing from Manchester City sat out most of last season with a cruciate ligament injury, and he missed five games for Bayern between the end of September and late October after picking up another problem.
"I think Leroy sees it the same way I do - that he has room for improvement," Flick said at Tuesday's press conference. "He has tremendous quality and we all know that - that's why we signed him after all. He's getting all our support and all the time that he needs, and we hope that he can keep making the next step.
"But I think it's important to see the big picture. I've said it before and I'll say it again today, he had a serious injury, then he was injured again. Then there was a new club, a new philosophy, and new footballing ideas.
"That's not always easy, especially when you miss some training and tactical sessions, and the reflexes that you'd normally get to work on in the manner and frequency with which you'd like. So it’s sometimes not easy for new players to find their way."
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Flick said there was plenty of potential for Sane to improve, starting with this week's games against Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen.
The former Bayern midfielder also said Joshua Kimmich looks in good shape since returning to team training faster than expected from a knee injury. Flick stressed, however, that the Germany international would have to see how he reacts over the next few days to decide whether he can feature before the winter break.
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