Lewandowski wins first Gerd Muller Trophy

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has won the 2022 Gerd Müller Award as the world’s best striker during Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris.

The striker, who has netted 14 times in 13 outings to date for Barça, had a spectacular 2021/22 when still at Bayern Munich, scoring 50 times in 46 games (a goal every 80 minutes) while also finding the target seven times for Poland.

In 2021, he closed the calendar year with 69 goals (58 for Bayern and 11 for Poland), the highest figure since Leo Messi broke the world record with his 91 goals in 2012.

Speaking after collecting his prize, Lewandowski said “this is especially important to me because of the name. Müller was a major inspiration for me. It was always a challenge to chase his stats but I never imagined I’d beat his goalscoring record in the Bundesliga.”

He made a special point of mentioning his former Bayern colleagues, but also remembered his current Barça squad members.

“You can only score goals if you work in collaboration with your teammates. So this trophy is about them too.”

“I’m very happy to be at Barça. I have arrived at a time when everyone has to work hard to achieve something big. It’s a great club and I feel very comfortable.

“I think I have a big challenge in front of me, but since the very first moment I could see how much potential everyone has.”