Robert Lewandowski on ‘dream’ teammate Lionel Messi and admits Ballon d’Or is already decided
- Seb Sternik
- 26 December 2022
Barcelona star Robert Lewandowski admitted every striker dreams of playing alongside World Cup winner Lionel Messi and believes the Argentine is on course to claim another Ballon d'Or.
The Polish international is preparing for a return to club action following a successful World Cup campaign with his country.
Poland progressed out of the group stage for the first time since 1986 before losing 3-1 to eventual finalists France in the round-of-16.
Lewandowski scored two goals at the tournament to add to his impressive start to the season with Barcelona.
The forward has bagged 18 goals in 19 appearances since arriving at the Camp Nou in the summer.
Despite his fine start to the season, Lewy is confident that Lionel Messi's World Cup heroics will see the Argentine land an eighth Ballon d'Or.
In an interview with Mundo Deportivo, he said: "There is maybe one more player that plays for the same club [Kylian Mbappe] but there is only one World Cup that decides who is going to win it this season and Leo is now in the top position for sure because of what he has achieved that means everything to him."
Messi and Lewandowski went head-to-head during the World Cup group stage, with Argentina winning 2-0.
The two players engaged in a conversation following the match. When asked what the chat was about, Lewy said: "I can only say that it was a nice conversation.
"I don't want to explain what we talked about but it was a lovely dialogue. I know that even after losing the first game against Saudi Arabia, Argentina were the big favourites to win the title."
When asked whether he would like to play alongside Messi before retiring, Lewandowski said: "It's not up to me. Of course, we see that now he plays more like a 'playmaker', maybe he scores fewer goals and gives more passes to his teammates although he continues to score them.
"But compared to other times, he is now the footballer that any striker would dream of playing alongside him."
