Lewandowski is a complete striker, says his ex-teammate Kirchhoff

Robert Lewandowski is a "complete" striker, according to Jan Kirchhoff, who says that defenders are never left with any "advantage" against his former Bayern Munich team-mate.

The German centre-back told Goal and SPOX: "Pep wanted the number nine to fall back into midfield and play a lot. The striker should always ask central defenders whether they push forward or stay on the line.

"And in this regard - if we would be talking about my toughest opponent in terms of pure quality - Robert Lewandowski is just one number better [than Mario Mandzukic].

"Robert is fast, agile, physically and technically good, can drop and has a great finish. You simply have no advantage against him. Robert is simply complete and therefore unpredictable."

Kirchhoff went on to describe Mario Mandzukic as the most physically intimidating player he worked alongside at Bayern, while revealing that even Guardiola asked the Croatian to tone down his aggression on the training pitch.

He said: "Training against Mario meant pain. He was always looking for physical contact and tried to block every long ball. Mario often ran into the back of the defenders and sometimes jumped into the back of the defenders when the balls were in the air. Even in training, he couldn't stand losing.

"As a direct opponent of Mario, it was incredibly difficult to train well. He physically punished you.

"I had a lot of respect for him and his aggressiveness and quality as a young player at the time. I always tried to stand up to it, but I didn't want to get involved in a duel. I still remember that Pep Guardiola also said to Mario: 'Maybe you can shift down a gear and play less aggressively'."