Robert Lewandowski says midnight chat with Jurgen Klopp 'changed his career'

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has revealed that a midnight chat with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp changed his career while the pair worked together at Borussia Dortmund. 

Lewandowski became one of the most feared strikers in world football under the tutelage of the German before eventually moving to Bayern Munich on a free transfer in 2014. Speaking to ESPN FC, as cited by Anfield Watch's Twitter account, the Barcelona striker recounted an interesting story about the current Liverpool boss and also admitted that Klopp is like a father to him.

"He is the guy who can be like a father, the guy that can help you all the time, but also he's the guy who can try to push you. This is the guy who you can go to him, speak with him. We are all human, we all have problems. He's not only the coach, he is the guy who ... you can learn from him, also [about] life. I learned a lot under him.

"I think that one situation changed my career. It was the first season, maybe the beginning of my second season, at Dortmund. I wasn't in good form, I didn't score so many goals. I didn't know what Jurgen wanted from me. After a game that we lost, I went to him directly. It was maybe midnight at the hotel.

"I said: 'I want to speak with you because I don't understand and I don't know what you want from me, what you expect from me.' And this conversation was like, I thought that maybe we're going to speak five minutes, 10 minutes, but we were speaking about an hour and a half. The most important thing was that I was speaking with him, maybe like a father. And I missed my father because I lost my father when I was 16 years old. Maybe since that time, I couldn't find someone who can talk with me like that.

"Three days later, and remember you cannot change anything in training because you don't have time, we were playing in the Bundesliga and I scored a hat trick and got one assist and we won 4-0. That was Augsburg, I think. In that moment I understood that mentality and what you have in your head is so important because I didn't change anything. But I felt some freedom, just like I'm clear in my mind. After this everything changed."

ANFIELD WATCH VERDICT

Klopp's man management skills simply can't be overstated, with several players past and present lavishing praise on the Liverpool boss' ability to really connect with and bring the best out of them.

That said, for Lewandowski to come out and say this is a huge deal, as the Polish striker is one of the greatest attackers of his generation and arguably one of the finest talents to have been coached by Klopp.