David Alaba Compares Robert Lewandowski with Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo

Robert Lewandowski deserves to be placed in the same bracket as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and is "maybe the best striker in the world," according to his Bayern Munich team-mate David Alaba.

The Poland international was vital to Bayern's 3-0 UEFA Champions League victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

As well as scoring the German champions' third in the first leg of the last-16 tie, he also set up both Serge Gnabry's goals soon after half-time:

Alaba was full of praise for Lewandowski after a performance that put Bayern within touching distance of the Champions League quarter-finals, per Nick Ames of the Guardian:

"He is a world-class player and a world-class striker. We all know that he can score goals and he showed today another side of himself by putting assists. We know he is very important to us and we are grateful to have him in our squad. He shows it every weekend, I guess. He is one of the best, and maybe the best, striker in the world. He scores goals in almost every game and, of course, I think he deserves to be at the top and spoken about with those guys [Messi and Ronaldo]."

Lewandowski's goal in west London was his 11th of the season in the Champions League, putting him to the head of the goalscoring standings in the tournament:

The 31-year-old is also leading goalscorer in the Bundesliga with 25 goals, at least four more than any other player, and is second only to Lazio's Ciro Immobile in the race for the European Golden Shoe.

He has already set a personal best for goals in a single Champions League season and is just six goals from eclipsing his previous best return for a German top-flight campaign.

Barring an injury, it seems almost certain Lewandowski will eclipse the 30-goal high he reached in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

And if he stays in the same form, he will have a key role to play in Bayern's run-in.

With 11 rounds remaining in the Bundesliga this term, the Munich giants have a one-point lead over RB Leipzig at the top of the table:

Meanwhile, Hansi Flick's side have been installed as favourites to win the Champions League after their superb performance against Chelsea, per Caesars Palace.

Bayern host the Blues in the return leg of their last-16 clash at the Allianz Arena on March 18.

In the interim, they have Bundesliga matches against Hoffenheim, Augsburg and Union Berlin, and a German Cup quarter-final against Schalke.