Robert Lewandowski: “Bayern Munich have made history”
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski said his side has “made history” after defeating Mexican outfit Tigres UANL to win the FIFA Club World Cup final on Thursday.
The 32-year-old scored a brace in the semi-finals against Al Ahly and set up Benjamin Pavard to hit the only goal of the game in the final, a return that led to him also being named as the tournament’s best player.
“We desperately wanted to win today,” Lewandowski said after the game that completed the sextuple to go with their Bundesliga, DFB Cup, UEFA Champions League, DFL Supercup and UEFA Super Cup successes, becoming just the second team to do so after Barcelona in 2010.
“The goal came from the first cross of the game and it paid off straight away. At half-time I’d said we needed to do that, and thankfully it worked. Now we’ve got the ‘sixpack’ and that’s something very special. We’ve made history. We’re flying back to Munich now and we’ll enjoy the flight.”
Head coach Hansi Flick also touched on the significance of the triumph in the context of the club’s past achievements. “Congratulations to my team, who have certainly accomplished something historic,” said the 55-year-old.
“Even for a club as successful as Bayern this is the best season ever. We were dominant and deserved to win the final. As a coaching team, we’re very proud of the players and we’re very happy. It’s outstanding what this team has achieved. The mentality out on the pitch today was terrific.”
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Indeed, it was far from an easy tournament for the Bundesliga leaders, who arrived a day later than planned after their flight to Qatar was delayed last Friday. On top of that, two key players, Jerome Boateng and Thomas Müller, were unavailable for the final, and Joshua Kimmich also had a goal disallowed in the 18th minute.
Flick’s charges will now return to Germany ahead of their Matchday 21 encounter at home to Arminia Bielefeld on Monday as they look to maintain their seven-point lead at the league summit.
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