History was made on Monday as PSG superstar Lionel Messi won his record-breaking seventh Ballon d'Or Award after leading Argentina to Copa America glory this past summer. While Messi did have a tremendous season for club and country, this was truly Robert Lewandowski's award for the taking.
The Bayern Munich talisman has been absolutely clinical across the last two campaigns. He likely would've won the Ballon d'Or in 2020, but the entire ceremony was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, Lewandowski has proven time and time again to be one of the most clinical strikers on the planet.
Robert Lewandowski broke the late Gerd Muller's Bundesliga record in 2020/21 after bagging a mind-boggling 41 goals. Across all competitions, he netted 53. Now, let's take a look at Messi's stats from last season. He fired home 30 goals and tallied five assists for Barcelona while leading the Copa America in scoring and assists. We all know that Messi strictly won this award because he won his first major trophy with Argentina. But, should that be enough to be handed yet another Ballon d'Or? Barca also finished in third spot in the LaLiga title race.
Lewandowski was robbed in 2019/20 because of COVID-19 but then he essentially replicated his insane production in the final third. Scoring over 40 goals in a domestic campaign is wild in itself and he deserved to be awarded for that. We've seen Messi win the Ballon d'Or so many times and there is undoubtedly favoritism towards him when it comes to French Football. While he only finished just ahead of Robert Lewandowski in the final voting, it should've been the other way around.
Capturing Striker of the Year is one thing, but when you show the consistency that Lewandowski did in front of goal, there is only one way it should end. Holding the Ballon d'Or. Scoring 30 goals in a single season is difficult but 53? That's absolutely unheard of. Lewa isn't getting any younger and this was probably his best chance at being named the best player in world football. He's also helped Bayern secure nine straight German titles.
The writing is on the wall. Robert Lewandowski should've won the Ballon d'Or. Not Lionel Messi.
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