Forget Neymar, Mbappe and the rest... Hargreaves labels Lewandowski as the best player on the planet
OWEN HARGREAVES believes Robert Lewandowski is the best player on the planet and will lead Bayern Munich to Champions League glory. The Poland striker scored the 55th goal of his extraordinary season as the Bundesliga champions beat Lyon in the semi-finals.
Now the ruthless German team will face Ligue 1 winners Paris Saint-Germain, who boast the rich attacking talents of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
But former Bayern midfielder Hargreaves (right) reckons “underrated” Lewandowski, who once nearly joined Blackburn for £4million, is worth more than both of the PSG superstars.
“I don’t think I would be wrong in saying that Neymar and Mbappe are the two most talented, naturally gifted players on that pitch on Sunday,” said the BT Sport analyst. “But the best player in the world right now is Lewandowski.
“His body of work, especially this season, is his best ever.
“He is the most in-form player in the world. So if you can take a talent – and Lewandowski has very good talent – and include a work ethic and a desire and a hunger to improve, then all of a sudden you get a season like this where if there were a Ballon D’Or, it would probably be his.
“I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves – he is under-rated.” Lewandowski, who turned 32 yesterday, has improved late in his career thanks to a regimented life of diet and exercise overseen by his wife Anna, a karate World Cup bronze medallist turned nutritionalist.
And he had extra motivation after seeking to leave Bayern when he was blamed for their failure in the 2018 semi-final against Real Madrid.
Hargreaves said: “I think he took that personally and he thought, ‘I am going to show you and I am going to improve.’
“No stone has been left unturned – and that is what I admire about him.” The former England star was part of Ottmar Hitzfeld’s Bayern team which did the BundesligaChampions League double in 2001, while Jupp Heynckes side completed the Bavarian club’s only treble in 2013.
But Hansi Flick, who only took over in November, has already achieved the domestic double and enters their first Champions League final since 2013 on a run of 20 consecutive wins.
“Tactically and technically, every aspect of the team is of the highest, highest level,” said Hargreaves.
“They just steamrollered Barcelona in the quarter-final.
“If they win the treble, they go down as one of the greatest Bayern teams ever.” Asked to name a winner, Hargreaves said: “Bayern have more weapons and have been doing it longer.
“It will be an amazing game but I believe that Bayern will pip it.”
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
2001 1-1 v Valencia, won 5-4 on pens (Milan) 2013 2-1 v Borussia Dortmund (Wembley)
1982 0-1 v Aston Villa (Rotterdam)
1987 1-2 v Porto (Vienna)
1999 1-2 v Manchester United (Barcelona) 2010 0-2 v Inter Milan (Madrid)
2012 1-1 v Chelsea, lost 3-4 on pens (Munich)