Lewandowski: 'Barca need to win before thinking about winning'

- He has achieved almost every glory in his career. How do you stay motivated?

- After so many years competing in one tournament, one country, I think I have achieved what I can achieve. I am very pleased with my achievements at Bayern. But in the end, you don't just think about football professionally, you think about football as life. At one point I thought to myself, 'OK, I've achieved everything, there's a safe zone at Bayern, but in the end, what makes me happier?' I think maybe a change is needed.

- There is a saying that if you are too comfortable in one place, move somewhere else to challenge yourself. What do you think?

- Sure. There was a moment when I realized I didn't feel the same way. I am afraid that if I don't change something, the energy and love for football that is going in the wrong direction will decrease even more. I know I'm 34, but that's just a number, because I know I can still play at a high level for a few more years.

- A few days ago Xavi praised him for changing Barca's mentality. How did you do that?

- When I came to Barca, the only challenge in my mind was to win, whoever the opponent was, that I wanted to score and win. Of course, at Barca, I have to decide what is sometimes more important, scoring goals or winning games. I know that Barca needs time after a few difficult seasons, but trophies are also important. So the first thing is that the whole team has to improve. We have to take the next step to not only play better, but win more.

I saw Barca's potential even when the club had a big problem about two years ago. But now, we are working hard, and I believe we will reach our goal in the end. Even, for example, we had problems in the Champions League and this is something we have to think about, what can we do better next season. It's a long process and you can't change everything in a week or a month. You need more time.

- In your opinion, how far is Barca from competing at the highest level and reaching the Champions League final?

"If we don't get knocked out, I think Barcelona will reach the quarter finals of the Champions League because we have made progress.". We have improved over the previous few months. In addition, when eliminated, Barcelona had many injuries. You can learn from these situations and do better in the future. I won the Champions League and won 10 Bundesliga titles. But for many Barcelona players aged 18 or 19, this may be their first time winning the La Liga title. Of course, we must fight to the end, but winning the championship gives us confidence. I remember when I was 18 or 19 years old, I didn't win the national championship and I didn't have confidence. But later things became easier, confidence came, and I could show more ability on the pitch.

- Why do you and Xavi both say that football has changed?

- Football is always changing. If you compare clubs or football with five years ago, things are different. 10 years ago, everyone wanted to play tiki-taka, but football is more physical now. They all know how to prepare the game in terms of tactics, defense, movement, how to change the system in the game. The key is not only to adapt, but to be able to take a step forward. Everyone wanted to copy Pep Guardiola's version of Barca, but now, his Man City no longer plays like that.

- How does Guardiola apply the style of play at Bayern?

- Guardiola tried tiki taka more, but realized that Bayern had different types of players and he had to adapt. I don't know how many years it will take you to find players like Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Lionel Messi or Dani Alves.

- So in your opinion, which style of play is effective in modern football?

- Now football is more physical, you can see that in La Liga, things are not what they used to be. The matches are still technical, but full of physicality. The clubs are prepared both physically and tactically. That's important because football is going at a higher speed, the strikers, the wingers are faster. That's how football is evolving. Everyone wants to see players who are both fast and technical. But I think football still needs unique players.

- Many people think that Barca is winning a lot of matches 1-0 with inconsistent philosophy. What do you think?

"We are in a process, and you cannot immediately change everything. You must focus on building strong defenses.". Barcelona's players play very well, but attacking must change a lot to play better football and create more chances to score goals. The most important thing is victory. Barcelona's next step is to create more opportunities, score more goals, but maintain strong defensive ability. This is also psychological. We must focus on defensive quality, but we must also take more risks. We cannot be afraid of being attacked. If you know that your defense is reliable, it's easier to make decisions, take risks, and try new things.

- Barca's next match is El Clasico. Why is it so difficult to play against Real Madrid?

- Because Real have a lot of good, great, experienced players who have achieved everything. You see how confident they are, but in the end it's just a game, even though it's very important, not only in Spain but around the world. Do you know how many fans are waiting for this match all over the world? Even I, before going to Barca, always watched this special match. Now I'm part of El Clasico. That's great, special.

Moreover, when I play at Camp Nou, even when I come on the field when I'm tired from playing too much, I still have strength. When my name was called, I felt like 'I'm ready, I want to play, score goals, win. It's unbelievable, I'm playing at Camp Nou'. This stadium is old, but has history, magic. You feel it.

- You have played under the best coaches. So what's the best thing about Jurgen Klopp?

- His personality. Klopp is someone who can be like a father, helping you all the time, but also someone who can try to push you. It's someone you can meet and talk to. We are all human, we all have problems. Klopp is more than just a coach, and you can learn a lot from him, about life. I learned a lot from Klopp.

- Can you give me an example?

- I think one thing changed my career. It was the first or second season at Dortmund. I wasn't in good form, scored few goals and didn't know what Klopp wanted from me. After a loss, I met him in person, probably in the middle of the night at the hotel. I said 'I want to talk to you because I don't understand and don't know what you want or expect from me'. I think we only talked for five or ten minutes, but talked for about an hour and a half. The most important thing is that I spoke to Klopp, he is like a father. When I lost my father at the age of 16, I could not find anyone who could talk to me like that.

Three days later, and remember we cannot change anything in training because there is no time, Dortmund has a match in the Bundesliga. This match, I scored a hat-trick and assisted the other to win 4-0. Looks like the match against Augsburg. At that time, I understood that your mentality and what you think is very important because I have not changed anything. But I feel free, at ease in my mind. Then everything changed.

- What did Klopp say that night?

- I don't remember them all, but what I do remember is that he said that if I gave him 70 per cent on the pitch in training, he would be happy. From there, I understood that what I was doing could satisfy Klopp. I have to take the next step to show my ability in each match. This small change has changed my life and can change the path I have taken in life.

- So what's special about Guardiola?

- He is the coach who changed my mind about football. Sometimes I don't know if it's good or not, because sometimes I think if I was stupid it would be easier to play, because now I think too much and see too much in games. But that also helped me a lot. If I see and can change things, I can say to my teammates, 'They're playing like this, so maybe we need to change the moves, the style or the system as well'.

I worked with Guardiola and talked a lot. I remember one day he said to me, 'I can only help you by helping the team develop the ball, hold the ball, get the ball into the box. But can't help with what you're going to do with the ball, because you know better than I do. So I can help you because I know how to deploy, build play, switch wings or move positions, everything. But in the end you're still better than me, and decide for yourself'.

- What about Carlo Ancelotti?

- He's the one who gave me great confidence. Ancelotti gave me what I lacked, which is a confidence that I didn't have before. He is a wonderful person and someone who takes care of you.

What do these coaches have in common?

- They find that the most important thing is the connection between people. Sometimes people forget that we are humans, not machines, robots, can't have emotions, bad moods. People may think we are programmed, that we train, compete and do nothing else. That's not right. It is true that we have the talent, working hard to get to this position. That's one thing, but we also come home, have families, have children, have problems, just like everyone else. We can have bad moments.

- What are your dark moments like that?

- I've certainly had a few moments like that in my life, it was very painful. But even when I have moments like that, I think 'Come on, what's going on?'. I try, but something is wrong. You have to be patient and think 'Let's work hard, focus on football, think about what you can do better, faster, fight for a better record'. I have to fight, try, and maybe a solution will come. Maybe I'll be lucky. Maybe I get the ball from an opponent's mistake and I have to be ready.

- What advice do you have for talented young players at Barca?

It depends on each player. With Gavi, learn English first. I'm learning Spanish, see how old I am. Therefore, learning English is not a problem for Garvey. Now I can speak Spanish with him. "Technically, I will tell Gavi that it doesn't matter what you achieved in the last game, but the most important thing is always the next game and what you can do." My attention is always focused on the next game. You can't think that the last game will be like the next one. Maybe the game ends at 11:00 pm, but for me it's 11:30. I have been thinking about how to prepare for the next game, not the previous two days or the previous day. Sometimes it's too late to change anything.

- So what about Pedro?

- Pedri has amazing technique. But I told him, 'The goal is goals, you have to score more goals, and also assist. You can't just play football. Having good stats on goals and assists is also important. I understand that your performance helps the team a lot, but in the end, goals and assists are also important. So let's attack more. If Barca scores one goal, why can't we score a second?'. And this is also what I told Gavi. I scored five goals in nine minutes against Wolfsburg in 2015. So why can't Barca score five goals in 90 minutes. Anything is possible, and you have to be hungry to score goals.

- What about a player who is not as young as Ousmane Dembele?

- From the first training session, I was amazed at Dembele's talent and how good he is, how fast his feet are. For me, Dembele can be the best in his position, but sometimes injuries. On the pitch, Dembele can always do something with the ball. He can dribble very easily, very quickly, like a natural talent. And you see it from the very first session.

- What advice would you give Dembele?

- He can find other ways to create, because opponents know him very quickly. If using a different pass or play style, Dembele can create more options. I said to Dembele, 'Get close to the goal. He couldn't score or assist from midfield. He can dribble past three or four players, but if he's closer to goal, there might be only one left in front. And that's your chance to score."

- How do you imagine Barca's style of play will develop?

- Sometimes we play very well, but sometimes Barca win even if we don't play well. The important thing is knowing how to win, not how to play to win. Now, Barca knows how to win, and the next step is how to play better, get the fans excited, and still win. If we score one, we have to think we can score three more. Do it, don't be afraid. We have to do something for the fans. They come to the yard to see the emotions. That's why it's important to have that mentality, no matter who the opponent is and how Barca wants to play.