MUNICH, GERMANY - AUGUST 31: Robert Lewandowski of FC Bayern Munich celebrates after scoring his team's fifth goal during the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Muenchen and 1. FSV Mainz 05 at Allianz Arena on August 31, 2019 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski has been crowned Germany’s Footballer of the Year for 2021.
The Pole lands the award for a second successive season following a record-breaking Bundesliga campaign with Bayern; becoming the first player to retain the accolade since Michael Ballack in 2003.
Lewandowski scored a staggering 41 league goals – surpassing Gerd Muller’s record tally of 40 from 1971-72 – as Hansi Flick’s side secured a ninth straight title.
The 32-year-old was the runaway winner of the award, receiving 356 of the 563 votes cast in a poll conducted by journalists from sports magazine Kicker – 315 more than his nearest challenger Thomas Muller.
“I know what a great honour this is,” he told the club’s official website.
“It’s a source of great pride and joy for me, because it’s rare for someone to win the title of Footballer of the Year in Germany twice in a row.”
Indeed, Lewandowski becomes only the 15th different player to win the award on multiple occasions – along with the likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Jurgen Klinsmann, Lothar Matthaus and Oliver Kahn.
His 41 goals landed him the Bundesliga’s golden boot for a sixth time, leaving him one shy of Muller’s record of seven.
With 365, the 1974 World Cup winner is also the only player to better Lewandowski’s tally of 277 league goals in Germany’s top flight.
Source: livescore
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