Robert Lewandowski has been named the Bundesliga’s Player of the Season for 2012-13.
The Borussia Dortmund striker scored 24-goals in the league, and bagged a memorable four-goal haul in his team’s Champions League demolition of Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Polish international Lewandowski beat Bayern Munich stars Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger to the award, as voted for by Germany’s union of professional footballers.
He accumulated 31.6% of the vote, while Ribery and Schweini received 21.6% and 11.3% respectively.
Former Bayern manager, Jupp Heynckes, justifiably won the manager’s award with 45.9% of the votes, after guiding the Bavarian giants to an unprecedented Treble.
"I want to thank all the Bundesliga players that elected me as player of the season," Lewandowski posted via Facebook upon hearing of his award.
"It makes me especially proud that the opponents from the league voted for me."
Unfortunately, Lewandowski’s contract wrangling with Dortmund has taken the lustre of what should have been a proud moment for both team and player.
Meanwhile, the Team of the Year is composed exclusively of Bayern and Dortmund players, after they made the Champions League final at Wembley an all-Bundesliga affair.
German Players Union Team of the Season:
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich); Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Dante (Bayern Munich), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), David Alaba (Bayern Munich); Mario Gotze (Borussia Dortmund), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Ilkay Gundogan (Borussia Dortmund), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich); Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund), Mario Mandzukic (Bayern Munich).