Robert Lewandowski is the world's best number nine - it's not a debate

The athletically-gifted 6ft-tall striker has been scoring a goal every 109 minutes in the last decade and scored an incredible 34 goals in 31 appearances in 2019/20 en route to his fifth Bundesliga title and Bayern's eighth German league title in a row.

If that was not enough, he has also scored 15 goals this Champions League campaign after netting a header with pinpoint precision during Bayern's emphatic 3-0 victory over Lyon on a warm Wednesday evening at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal.

Bayern barely even got out of first gear on Wednesday, yet they still won with ease.

In the case of Lewandowski, he is a relentless goal machine yet he has somehow never got on the podium for 'the Best' FIFA Football Awards with Cristiano Ronaldo (2016 & 2017) and Lionel Messi (2019) taking the trophy home twice each and Luka Modric winning it once (2018) since its inception in 2016. No one can win the Ballon D'Or this year because it has been cancelled due to Covid-19.

Bayern boss Hansi Flick was startled by the fact that Lewandowski has not come close to winning 'the Best' award. "Why shouldn't it be someone from the Bundesliga? He fulfils all the requirements," he said earlier this season.

The German coach - who has transformed and spearheaded Bayern's European success this season - was also correct in saying earlier this week that Lewandowski cannot be compared to Messi due to their differing playing styles.

"You can't compare the two players," he told reporters.

"Messi has been by far the best player (in the world) for many years. I don't know whether there will be a player like him again."

The 31-year-old received further high praise from his boss on Wednesday night, who labelled him "the best centre forward in the world". Really, how can you disagree?

On Sunday night, a Lewandowski hat-trick would see him take the mantle for most goals ever scored by a single player in a Champions League campaign.

History will look back on Lewandowski with fondness as he ranks fourth in the Champions League all-time top scorers list on 68 with the same goal ratio as first-placed Cristiano Ronaldo (0.76).

Of players still playing football on that list, Karim Benzema ranks fifth having scored three less and with a ratio of 0.54. You then have to drop down to eleventh where you will see Thomas Muller tied with Eusebio and Filippo Inzaghi on 46 goals. As simple as it is, central strikers are remembered for goals scored and not much else.

But, of course, it is not just his clinical eye for goal that makes him so good. His nine assists in the Bundesliga and Champions League in the 2019/20 campaign is testament to his ability to do just about everything you require from a number nine.

At Bayern, Lewandowski fits the system and the system fits him. Combine that with his remarkable consistency - an attribute so many modern footballers are unable to attain - take in his all-round game and you're left wondering how he could not be seen as the best out-and-out striker in the world.

The scary thing? He said this to France Football:

"I'm convinced that the best period of my career is just around the corner."