Lewandowski was robbed of a Ballon d'Or
(Photo courtesy of ineews.eu)
Surprise surprise, one of the greatest athletes of our generation has gone on and added another individual award to his prestigious collection of trophies.
Lionel Messi was announced as the 2021 Ballon d’Or winner yesterday, beating out fellow finalists Robert Lewandowski, Jorginho, Karim Benzama, and Ngolo Kante to lift the trophy for a record seventh time.
Normally I would take this opportunity to smack Messi on a poster and shove it down the throats of Ronaldo fan-boys everywhere, but this doesn’t feel like a true win for Messi. Sure Messi takes a 7-5 Ballon d’Or trophy lead over Ronaldo with this award, and sure Messi is good enough to be in the conversation to win year in and year out, but this was simply not his year.
COVID fucked everything up, but it really fucked things up for Robert Lewandowski. When France Football decided to cancel the award entirely in 2020 due to the unorthodox football seasons and schedules across Europe, the award was Lewandowski’s for the taking.
You would have to be completely delusional, or have taken a year off from watching soccer, if you truly believed anyone not named Lewandowski deserved the Ballon d’Or in 2020.
Let’s take a look at some of his ridiculous stats and production, shall we?
A goal every 67 minutes? Are you kidding me? These numbers are just pulled from league play as well, this isn’t even to mention Lewandowski’s recent Champions League form. The Polish striker has knocked through 9 goals in just 5 Champions League appearances this year and looks to be leading Bayern to another deep run. Oh yea, and he also has an absurd 4 UCL hat tricks to his name.
I understand there is more to the beautiful game than just putting the ball in the net, but shouldn’t that be valued above all else? Messi is certainly the more well-rounded player in this equation, but Lewandowski has that Midas touch; anytime he gets the ball you can expect a shot on target.
If I were a Ballon d’Or voter, I would have viewed this almost as the 2020 and 2021 trophy combined. I would simply analyze who has had the better form throughout the extended time period rather than ignoring one of the most iconic seasons in European football of all time.
I mean, seriously. Lewandowski had more individual goals than some entire teams in the Bundesliga last season. He may not get as many assists as the Argentinian, but the production is blatantly obvious.
Comparing calendar year stats vs league stats can tell two very different stories. This is not to knock Messi in any way, shape, fashion or form; he had an incredible 2021 on paper as well. Looking at the league stats from the young 2021 season, Messi has been somewhat non-existent since his move to Paris.
(Photo courtesy of fctables.com)
Granted these numbers are only from club competitions, excluding Champions League matches and domestic tournaments, but it still paints a Picasso-like picture: Lewandowski is dominating.
The Ronaldo vs Messi debate is one that will go on forever, similar to the LeBron vs MJ debate here in America, but there should be no debate for this year’s Ballon d’Or.
Lewandowski has proven himself as the greatest striker in the world, and the fact that France Football has given the award to either Messi or Ronaldo for 12 of the last 13 years makes me feel as if they might have some sort of agenda.
I understand those two are above and beyond the rest in the grand scheme of things, but that’s not what the Ballon d’Or award is about. Lewandowski was robbed, and I’m pulling for him to continue his dominant form through 2022 so they’re forced to hand him the trophy next year.