If the 2020 Ballon d’Or hadn’t been cancelled, Robert Lewandowski would surely be the overwhelming favourite to win the prestigious individual accolade this year.
The prolific Bayern Munich striker has scored a magnificent 55 goals in 46 games this season.
That’s the best tally of his illustrious career. Not bad for a centre-forward who turned 32 earlier this week.
Lewandowski, who has already won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal with Bayern this season, is now hoping to end the best season of his career by lifting the Champions League trophy on Sunday night.
Bayern take on Paris Saint-Germain in the final and Lewandowski is one of several players with the ability to win the match for his side.
Ahead of the final, The Guardian have published an eye-opening account detailing Lewandowski’s unusual rituals.
We say unusual, but they’ve obviously played their part in helping him to become the world’s best striker.
He always tucks into his dessert first at meal times before moving on to his starter and then, finally, the main course.
His Bayern teammates might think he’s a bit strange but there is method to the Poland international’s madness.
His wife, Anna, is a nutrition expert and the theory is that sweet foods digest quicker.
By metabolising his dessert first, Lewandowski avoids mixing the sweet foods in his stomach with the protein and carbohydrates found in his next two courses.
The Bundesliga superstar also only sleeps on his left side after consulting with a sleep therapist.
Why? Because it will supposedly preserve his stronger right leg.
Lewandowski always puts his left boot on first following a conversation with a psychologist, who encouraged him to drill his pre-match routine into an instinctive sequence.
And, if all that wasn’t enough, he also completes computerised brain-training exercises to keep him mentally sharp and focused.
Unlike many footballers, he doesn’t play video games, preferring instead to read books.
“When we went on vacation, he was reading books on breathing,” Ivan Djurdjevic, a former teammate at Lech Poznan, recalled. “Even then, it was obvious that he was different, that he wanted something more from this world.”
So, if you want to become the next Lewandowski you simply need to do the following: eat dessert first, only sleep on the side of your weak leg, always put the same boot on first and read books about breathing.
Easy.