Lewandowski wins inaugural Gerd Müller Trophy

Robert Lewandowski was one of several FC Barcelona successes at this Monday's Ballon d'Or gala in Paris as he collected the newly created Gerd Müller Trophy that goes to the top scorer of the season combining goal both for club and country.

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.

Unimaginable

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 team-mates" he said. "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."

Tribute to the Torpedo

The prize won by Lewandowski bears the name of one of the greatest goal-getters of all time, Gerd Müller, who sadly passed away on 15 August 2021. 'The Torpedo' remains Bayern Munich's all time highest goalscorer, curiously enough followed by the first man to win 'his' award, Robert Lewandowski.