The Barcelona striker will take on the five-time Ballon d'Or winner when Poland face Portugal in the Nations League on Saturday (12.10.24) and is impressed at how the Al-Nassr star continues to perform at a high level as he approaches his 40th birthday.

Lewandowski said: "As for Cristiano, he has written many pages of history and has always raised the bar for everyone around him, and this is something that cannot be overlooked. Although he has achieved everything or almost everything, and he is 39 years old and approaching 40, it is clear that he has ambition, as he gets angry and nervous, and this shows his great ambition.

"I think if he didn’t have that anger, he might have looked like he was just playing for the sake of playing. But he clearly still has the desire, and he looks physically in very good shape, which shows that the path he chose was successful. Regardless of age, his numbers keep going up and not the other way around. Of course, he is an exception and there are very few exceptions like him."

The clash between Poland and Portugal will see Lewandowski and Ronaldo renew a personal duel that dates back more than a decade but the former Bayern Munich ace thinks that the performance of the teams will be what decides the result.

He said: "I fully understand what Cristiano Ronaldo has achieved throughout his career, and how he has impacted the history of football with his achievements and numbers. This will certainly remain engraved in history.

"But when it comes to the match, I see it as a match between two teams, and we will need to play as a team to stand up to Portugal. They have many great players who I have faced before, and I know very well the level of challenge we will face."