ROBERT Lewandowski has admitted he was impressed by the quality of the Scotland players Poland faced this week and warned his Barcelona club mate Alex Valle he will have to perform at his very best to make a success of his loan spell at Celtic.
Global football superstar Lewandowski took his international goal tally to 84 when he buried a first half penalty in the opening Nations League match at Hampden on Thursday evening.
The 36-year-old, who won his 153rd cap in Glasgow, was delighted when his country recorded a 3-2 victory over their hosts thanks to the injury-time spot kick which Nicola Zalewski netted.
However, the former Bayern Munich forward, who has now been on target for club and country five times in the five games he has played in the 2024/25 season, acknowledged that Scotland competed well with Poland during the Group A1 encounter.
He feels that Valle, the young Spanish defender who joined Premiership champions Celtic on loan during the final week of the summer transfer window, will need to be fully focused on making an immediate impact whenever he is handed game time by manager Brendan Rodgers in the coming months.
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Asked how he thought the 20-year-old would fare in this country this term, he said: "You know, like every player, it depends how many minutes he's going to play.
"For us at Barcelona, we also know that if you want to play and you want to prove your performance, you have to be always ready. I know sometimes to play on the top level is not so easy.
"On Thursday night I saw some players from Scotland that know how to play football. We knew it would not be an easy game for us. That's why we appreciate these three points.
"But always we are trying to do our best. And if you are talking about the players from Scotland, you have also experienced players on the pitch. And also some young players who show that they want to be in the team."
But Lewandowski thinks that Steve Clarke’s men, who take on Portugal here in Lisbon on Sunday evening, can still cause their Nations League rivals problems during the next few months and challenge for a last eight spot.
"You know, you have to always be ready," he said. "Of course, we won on Thursday and Scotland lost. But we still have so many games. And the first game can be a little bit more tough than other games, especially the first game."
Lewandowski continued: "But you know, for us it's more important what we're going to do, how we're going to prepare for the next game. We have now the next difficult game against Croatia away.
"Of course, we have to try because we have also very, very young, talented players. So we have to try to keep taking the next step forward with our performances.
"Because today, even though we scored two goals, we put Scotland back in the game. So it's like something that we can do better. But in the end we won. So I think that for us to give us self-confidence for the future, for the next game, it can be very important."
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Lewandowski, who scored for the third time at Hampden on Thursday night, might no longer be one for the future himself, but his ambition is undiminished despite everything he has achieved in the game and the heights he has scaled.
"Yeah, I still have this fire inside me,” he said. “I really enjoy playing for the national team, for FC Barcelona as well. I feel this happiness when I'm on the pitch, especially if I score the goal.
"Of course, I have around me so many young players in the national team and especially in Barcelona. It's like a new role for me. Sometimes like being the father for the young players. But I enjoy it a lot and I'm happy to be in this place where I am.
“I try to do my best. Of course, we know what this season is going to be like for each player. It's going to be a challenge. It's going to be maybe over 70 games. It depends how long we're going to play in the Champions League and in the Spanish Cup.
"It will be for us something new, the new Champions League format. More games and of course it's also very important to be on the top, not only at the beginning but during the whole season. I hope that we're going to play even better as we started at the beginning of the season."
