"I'm very proud that I was voted Sports Personality of the Year in Poland, and as the first footballer in 33 years too: that's a big thing. I watched the awards ceremony on the internet. It was almost 1 am here in Qatar when it finally started. My wife accepted the award on my behalf. When we return to Munich on Tuesday evening I can finally have a closer look at the trophy. Its new home will be a room where I collect other trophies as well. Every trophy is important to me, but this is one of the top accolades.

To be honest, I'd prefer playing over training at this point. Fortunately time goes by quickly here. The conditions are ideal, and I'm feeling very good. Of course everybody notices the workload, but it would be bad if that weren't the case. We exercise twice a day, but we have fun too. It's a matter of course when you're at a dinner table with Rafinha and Arturo Vidal. But sometimes I want things to be quiet, so I go to my room and lie down.

Back in Munich life will go on. It's important we stay hungry. I always want to win more. Each campaign takes you in a new direction. At the end I want to be happy when I look back on the direction we took. I'm already looking forward to the start of the second half of the season."