Lewandowski Named UEFA Player Of The Year
The 32-year-old scored 55 goals in the 2019-20 season, and beat Manuel Neuer and Kevin De Bruyne to the trophy
Robert Lewandowski was named UEFA’s Men’s Player of the Year on Thursday as Champions League winners Bayern Munich dominated the men’s awards.
The 32-year-old scored 55 goals in 47 games, including 15 in 10 in the Champions League, while team-mates Manuel Neuer and Joshua Kimmich and manager Hansi Flick also scooped individual awards. Neuer and Kevin De Bruyne had also been up for the award.
“I have to say it’s amazing,” Lewandowski said. “It’s amazing, if you work so hard and you get this trophy, it’s something special.
“I have to say thank you to my team-mates, coaches, all the staff because they work very hard every day to prepare me for the games and also to my family because they support me a lot.
“I’ve always dreamed of playing in the biggest stadiums at the biggest club in the world. I’m very grateful and very proud and very happy.”
Pernille Harder, who recently joined Chelsea, was named UEFA Women’s Player of the Year for her performances at Wolfsburg. The German side were beaten in the Champions League final by Lyon but Harder beat Lyon pair Wendie Renard and Lucy Bronze to the individual award.
Bayern captain Neuer was unsurprisingly named Goalkeeper of the Season, beating PSG’s Keylor Navas and Jan Oblak of Atletico Madrid. Neuer played every minute of Bayern’s European campaign, keeping six clean sheets and conceding only eight goals in 11 games.
Lyon’s Sarah Bouhaddi won the inaugural women’s award, conceding just twice in seven appearances as she won her seventh Women’s Champions League.
Ahead of Neuer, Bayern’s defensive quality was clear as their trio of Kimmich, David Alaba and Alphonso Davies made up the final shortlist, Kimmich coming out on top of the voting.
Bouhaddi was also joined by a Lyon defensive partner, with France star Renard named the women’s Defender of the Season as she also lifted the Champions League for the seventh time.
Manchester City’s European campaign finished in disappointment once again but De Bruyne was named Midfielder of the Season ahead of Thiago and Thomas Muller, while another Lyon star in Germany international Marozsan won the women’s award.
Lewandowski was named Forward of the Season, top scorer in the Champions League as in every other competition he played in 2019-20. Harder backed up her overall award with the Forward of the Season gong as well, scoring nine goals on the way to the final.
Bayern boss Flick’s remarkable rise to prominence over the last year was recognised as he was named Men’s Coach of the Year after masterminding his team’s treble.
Lyon’s dominance of Europe was further confirmed as their manager, Jean-Luc Vasseur, won the first Women’s Coach of the Year award.
Full list of UEFA award winners:
UEFA Men’s Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
UEFA Women’s Player of the Year: Pernille Harder (Wolfsburg)
UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year: Hansi Flick (Bayern Munich)
UEFA Women’s Coach of the Year: Jean-Luc Vasseur (Lyon)
Goalkeeper of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League season: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
Defender of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League season: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
Midfielder of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League season: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Forward of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League season: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Goalkeeper of the 2019/20 UEFA Women’s Champions League season: Sarah Bouhaddi (Lyon)
Defender of the 2019/20 UEFA Women’s Champions League season: Wendie Renard (Lyon)
Midfielder of the 2019/20 UEFA Women’s Champions League season: Dzsenifer Marozsan (Lyon)
Forward of the 2019/20 UEFA Women’s Champions League season: Pernille Harder (Wolfsburg)
