Lionel Messi admitted Robert Lewandowski "deserved to win the Ballon d'Or". In the Champions League he scored ten times in the group stage alone, and ended the campaign with 15 goals. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window). Andrey Arshavin (Zenit Saint Petersburg), 2. #9 Robert Lewandowski. FootballTransfers.com MovieMeter.com 2 January 17K+ views Every year he outdoes himself and he's at a great club [Bayern Munich]. Only Ronaldo (11 games between June 2017 and April 2018) has ever scored in more consecutive European Cup games. var months = new Array ("January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December") On Monday evening Lionel Messi won the . You cant blame the Pole for feeling robbed. Right now, he is simply untouchable as the most devastating attacker on the planet, and more determined than ever to be recognised as such. Barcelona's Lionel Messi has won six of the past 12 Ballons d'Or, with Ronaldo claiming five during his time at Manchester United and Real Madrid, while Real's Luka Modric won the other. Robert Lewandowski - 69 goals (2021) . Furthermore, his home country of Poland gave him the number one spot. Lewandowski was recently awarded Tuttosport's Golden Player for the second year in a row, as the best over-21 player in Europe ahead of Chelseas Jorginho and Paris Saint-Germains Lionel Messi. There was recognition for a host of Bundesliga youngsters too, with Jude Bellingham coming second in the Kepa Trophy for the best U21 player, while Jamal Musiala was third, Florian Wirtz seventh and Gio Reyna ninth. Yet while the legendary Poland striker has always been an exceptional talent, in 2020 he secured his status as undoubtedly one of the finest centre-forwards of his generation, with the 32-year-olds goalscoring exploits guiding Bayern Munich to a famous Champions League, Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal treble. The 34-year-old has also illustrated his importance as a leader within the camp after skippering the side in the absence of Marcelo. Robert Lewandowski won the FIFA Best Men's Player Award last year and was well clear of his competition. The show must go on: Predicting Barcelona's 2021/22 season . But despite these fundamental changes, the usual suspects are set to battle it out once again to receive what is arguably the most respected individual award in world football. It's unclear whether the timing of the Ballon d'Or vote will change to account for a first-ever winter World Cup (ends Dec. 18, 2022), but Lewandowski and Poland will likely not be making a run in Qatar based on recent tournament history, and that's if they make it that far. Real Madrids Luka Modric took the gong in 2018 when he upset Ronaldo and Messis dominance, but many saw it as a protest vote, and an attempt to acknowledge Madrids incredible Champions League dominance. Lewy was forced to be a one-man-show. Last year, everyone was in agreement to say that you were the big winner of this award.. Lewandowski has been prolific since moving to Germany and Borussia Dortmund in 2010 but 2019-20 was by far and away his best scoring season. ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI will go down as one of the greatest players this generation. "I felt sad, I have nothing to hide," Lewandowski said. It's a sentiment that many were also voicing in the wake of Messi's latest triumph: Imagine winning all this but not the Ballon d'Or pic.twitter.com/DSeFRjD4OW, 47 goals in 2020. Only the 2022/23 season achievements will be taken into account. Lewandowski has had his say on not winning the Ballon d'Or, stating that he'd prefer to win the FIFA award instead. Robert Lewandowski was named as Striker of the Year on Monday night as French magazine *France Football* presented the award for the first time this year at . Gambling problem? Chelsea midfielder N'golo Kante is fifth, Real Madrid's Karim Benzema is fourth and Jorginho third +++DONNARUMMA WINS YASHIN TROPHY AS BEST GOALKEEPER+++. It used to change hands most years - until Messi and Ronaldo's 10-year dominance from 2008 to 2017. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan and Barcelona), 7. Robert Lewandowski hits Messi while sharing true feelings on not winning 2021 Ballon d'Or. Yet only Messi in 2012 and 2015 has managed to win it with a better goal return than Lewandowski. ", MORE: Ronaldo fires back at France Football editor comment. Robert Lewandowski was tipped by many to win the 2021 Ballon d'Or award after an outstanding year for club and country. It was also the 34-year-old player's fourth consecutive victory at the awards, and it came after he helped Juventus win the 2018-19 Serie A title in his debut season in Italy and also played a vital role in Portugal's victory in the Nations League. Further praise has unsurprisingly come from further up the club chain, with CEO Oliver Kahn stating that "nobody deserves it more than him" and that Lewandowski has been setting the benchmark for strikers around the world for years. Messi's seventh Ballon d'Or felt like a soft call by the Ballon d'Or jury if we compare to what Lewandowski attained with Bayern and Poland in 2020-2021. The 33-year-old is on course to win a 10th Bundesliga title this season with Bayern nine points clear of Borussia Dortmund on the top of the table. For more information, visit ow.ly/hElK50LwENy. More than 170 media members around the world submitted a top-fivevotefor the Ballon d'Or by the Oct. 24 deadline. He said, "I want to tell Robert you deserve your Ballon d'Or. Lionel Messi won his record-extending seventh Ballon d'Or on Monday as the world's top player after leading Argentina to the Copa America title in July. It was first awarded in 1956. Egypt were defeated in the Africa Cup of Nations Final by Senegal, while the same opponents denied the Pharaohs a place at this years World Cup with Salah missing a crucial spot-kick in the playoff penalty shootout. With the exception of 2018, he has been named Polish Footballer of the Year every year since 2011, an honour that he will undoubtedly claim in 2020 as well. For other inquiries, Contact Us. Simon Borg is a senior editor for football/soccer at The Sporting News. The award, widely considered to be the most prestigious individual honour in football, has been the property of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi since the pair of all-time greats took over in 2008, aside from one year. * 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). Probably not. Robert Lewandowski has finished second in the Ballon d'Or vote, with Lionel Messi winning the award for a record seventh time. Nov 7, 2022. The Portugal star has also recorded six second-place finishes as well as coming third once. Was it the individual stats without the context? Many visitors to this page are looking for the results of the FIFA player of the year, which was merged with the Ballon d'Or between 2009 and 2015 to create the FIFA Ballon d'Or. Lewandowski bagged 34 goals in 31 league games, with Immobile managing 36 in 37. Lewandowski's chances of winning would have been enhanced by the fact he's a striker - winners are usually forwards or creative midfielders and, more often than not, win the Champions League. You broke records and you would have deserved to win the Ballon d'Or. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain), 9. The ceremony for the Fifa Best Awards - which are slightly less prestigious - was also cancelled, although, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says. "[Lewandowski] had a great year, and from year to year he outdoes himself and shows the class of forward he is and the facility he has to score goals," Messi said about Lewandowski in a post-event press conference. Gareth Bale (Tottenham and Real Madrid), 8. PSG duo Gianluigi Donnarumma and Kylian Mbappe have been announced in 10th and 9th place respectively in the Ballon d'Or voting. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (founded in 1991) and known as the FIFA Ballon d'Or.That partnership ended in 2016, and the award . https://t.co/vh2GnA0dcK, I feel for Lewandowski. Please enter a valid email and try again. Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City) has landed in 8th, Mo Salah (Liverpool) in 7th and Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) 6th. Robert Lewandowski Not a chance. Or was it Argentina's Copa America triumph? Karim Benzema has broken Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's dominance of the Ballon d'Or after helping Real Madrid win the Champions League during the 2021/22 season. Bayern's top brass are all in attendance in the French capital. Ronaldo (17 in 2013-14 and 16 in 2015-16) is the only man to score more goals in a Champions League season. 1 Answer The Ballon d'Or is an annual football award presented by the French news magazine France Football. He cited his votes for the 2013 Ballon d'Or as an example: . 18. Well not every sport, as there is a list of unusual sports, extinct sports and newly created sports. 30 - Mbapp (9th) Yes he won an international trophy, but theres a difference between winning the Copa America with Argentina and competing in the Euros with Poland. He is one of the most complete strikers around, if not the Cmon France Football, do something right for once. While he is loved in Bavaria, in Poland he is a national hero. With all due respect to Messi and the other great players named, none deserved it as much as Lewandowski. The race to win the Golden Ball is well and truly on, with the return of the Champions League having only intensified matters. Analysis and opinion from our chief football writer. Messi has won the men's Ballon d'Or award a record seven times, Cristiano Ronaldo has won the award five times. Here is the Ballon d'Or points breakdown in full. Barca Universal writers pick their Ballon d'Or top three for 2021. Listen to all-new versions of their biggest hits and a surprising cover, Find out if the privatisation of the company could have had an impact on today's energy price crisis, Get lost in old favourites and enjoy an unexpected cover. ", Messi himself also paid tribute to Lewandowski when he received the trophy: "It's an honour to be here with you today. We won everything we could with Bayern. Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Atletico Madrid), 9. With the seasons hes just had, France Football cannot afford to ignore Robert Lewandowski any longer. Everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment. The all-time record of 365, also held by Gerd Muller, once seemed like a distant dream, but now is well within his sights. Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland came 11th in the vote, while Bayern captain Manuel Neuer was fifth in the goalkeeping category. Unfortunately, the award was cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. FINAL RESULTS: How the Ballon d'Or votes fell. Quite simply, he has not stopped finding the back of the netsince the start of the year, continuing what's now a years-long, nonstopscoring spree. By Ryan Reid. The last Bundesliga player to win was Borussia Dortmund's Matthias Sammer in 1996. Ronaldo has won the Ballon d'Or five times in his illustrious career. Lewandowski's season ended with a clean sweep of major trophies and on a run of 21 consecutive wins, with 55 goals and nine assists in 46 games. Robert Lewandowski was among the front-runners for the 2021 edition but Paris Saint-German superstar and six-time winner Messi added a seventh triumph. News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services. The Bayern man is the reigning Best FIFA Mens Player and recently picked up the European Golden Shoe as Europes top scorer in the 2020/21 season after he scored 41 goals to break Gerd Mllers 49-year record for most goals in a Bundesliga campaign. Robert Lewandowski has had an excellent season and is in contention to win the Ballon d'Or this year. Mbappe is on course to collect a fifth Ligue 1 title winners medal, but that represents the only prospect of silverware for the 23-year-old this season. High praise indeed from a man who has spent his entire coaching career working with only the elite. There is little doubt the Bayern Munich and Poland striker is a worthy winner of a second successive Best FIFA Men's . 27 - Ronaldo (6th)#BallondOr ranking in brackets. Since 2018, there has also been a women's Ballon d'Or award (called the Ballon d'Or Fminin). Over the entirety of the campaign, Lewandowski only failed to score in nine of his 47 appearances in all competitions. 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From Robert Lewandowski being robbed to Mohamed Salah placing seventh - there are arguments about who deserved to be where on the men's Ballon d'Or rankings. In 2020 Lewandowski has banished any lingering question marks against his record, finally winning his first Champions League trophy and scoring vital goals along the way. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more in a single season, yet his all-time record of 17 would almost certainly have been beaten if this years knockout stages had been over two legs instead of just one. Gio Reyna (Dortmund) and Florian Wirtz (Leverkusen) came in ninth and seventh respectively. "I want to share it with my national team teammates and thank them. The 33-year-old has struck 11 times across his last 12 internationals, scoring three in the UEFA Euro 2020 groups and eight in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Bayern's Jamal Musiala was third, with Dortmund's Jude Bellingham runner-up behind Pedri of Barcelona and Spain. The 33-year-old received the honour in person at the ceremony in Paris on Monday evening, the prize coming as a fitting reward for a man who, among other achievements, set a new single-season Bundesliga goal record of 41 in 2020/21. It was a season which lasted so long that he started it as a 30-year-old and was 32 by the time it finished. Robert Lewandowski (Poland, Bayern Munich), 580 pts. The Ballon d'Or award is an annualfootballawardfor the best player over the previous year. With younger players like Mbappe, Haaland and even Vinicius Jr. just entering their prime, Messi couldbe right: Lewandowski may very well have to outdo himself yet again. You had an unbelievable year.". Messi won the seventh Ballon d'Or on Monday, but said Lewandowski, the runner-up, should have won last year. The only variation to date in the men's game came in 2021 when Lionel Messi controversially won the Ballon d'Or and Robert Lewandowski was awarded FIFA's The Best. He ended the campaign as top scorer in the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League with a total of 55 goals. You were the rightfulwinner [last year]. A second Champions League triumph would also add to his cause, and his 12 goals across eight appearances in the competition have been crucial in Bayerns pursuit of a seventh European Cup. As the processstands, the media members were asked to vote based on (1) individual and team performance in 2021, (2) the player's talent and sportsmanship, and (3) the players overall career. Lewandowski was undoubtedly denied the honour by last years cancellation, but 12 months later hes still fully deserving of the accolade. It seems cruel not to have the Ballon d'Or this year.". Karim Benzema, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Mohamed Salah also had polite claims for a shot at the award. He doesnt excite voters. Last season, Lewandowski finished as runner up in the Ballon d'Or, with Lionel Messi claiming his 7th award ahead of the Poland star. The elite pressing unit that Flick has introduced at the Allianz Arena simply wouldnt be possible without the work that Lewandowski puts in up front. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. The Poland international has been one of the most prolific scorers in European football over the last 12 years, joining Borussia Dortmund in 2010, where he netted 103 goals in 187 appearances. In addition to the above, a much more streamlined voting system is set to be introduced that allows only representatives from the top 100 countries in the FIFA mens rankings qualified to vote. The Frenchman scored 44. Lewandowski was the top scorer in the 2019/20 Bundesliga (34 goals), the UEFA Champions League (15) and DFB Cup (six). When asked by Sportowe Fakty which player he felt deserved to win the 2020 Ballon dOr, Lewandowski simply replied: Me. newsletter, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says Florentino Perez never made an offer for Bayern Munichs Robert Lewandowski, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge hints at contract extension for Bayern Munichs Robert Lewandowski, Julian Nagelsmann explains why Bayern Munich benched Joo Cancelo, Julian Nagelsmann sees the positives and negatives from Stuttgart, looks forward to PSG, Leon Goretzka admits Bayern Munich need to close out games better, Lesson learned: Thomas Muller will start for Bayern Munich versus PSG, confirms Julian Nagelsmann, Bavarian Podcast Works: Postgame Show VfB Stuttgart vs Bayern Munich (ft. mini-rant) (Bundesliga). "August","September","October","November","December") 49 - Lewandowski (2nd) The records havent stopped tumbling in the new season either. var md = new Date() So if Argentina doesn't survive the semifinal penalty-kick shootout against Colombia, then Messi would have missed out on the Ballon d'Or? Messi's numbers may look better on paper (stats below as of the voting deadline of Oct. 24), but the twoalso play the game very differently. How to get into football - the most popular sport in the world, with clubs and facilities throughout the UK. Lionel Messi (Argentina, FC Barcelona, Paris-SG), 613 points. #Bundesliga pic.twitter.com/gMhMYPrx3U. Odds & lines subject to change. Other Bundesliga players to have won it are Allan Simonsen (Borussia Mnchengladbach) and Kevin Keegan (Hamburg). Robert Lewandowski will have more reason to be upset than anyone at Lionel Messi's seventh Ballon d'Or triumph. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi since the pair of all-time greats took over in 2008. Messi vs. CR7 Ballon d'Or, trophies Joshua Thomas 2 days ago. His 28 goals in 37 appearances across all competitions this season have proven to be crucial, as he seeks to become the first African winner of the award since George Weah in 1995. As you can see by the map, Europe's voting alone would have seen Robert Lewandowski win the 2021 Ballon d'Or. In October, he scored his second Bundesliga hat-trick of the season to take him to ten goals in just his fifth match nobody has ever reached the milestone quicker. He finished with 613 points in voting to. Shaun Custis questions the decision to give Messi the #BallonDor over Robert Lewandowski pic.twitter.com/YT3CGyTTRt. Fifa will still be handing out an award to the world's best player. AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. The 32-year-old also led Poland to Euro 2020 (which has been delayed until next year), with four goals and two assists in six qualifiers in 2019-20. Messi won it from 2009 to 2012 and then again in 2015, 2019 and 2021. . The treble took the Poland captain to 248 Bundesliga goals. He has everything you need up front. Benzema finished fourth in last years award behind Lionel Messi, Lewandowski and Jorginho, but has staked a strong claim for this years prize. Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d'Or Award a record 7 times in his career. We'll soon find out whether Lewandowski was an outright snub for some of those who had a vote, and whether there were any media who didn't even have him in their top three. var months = new Array ("January","February","March","April","May","June","July", "I think that you deserve your Ballon d'Or," Messi said. 33 - Benzema (4th) Looking at the statistics, it is easy to understand why so many deem Lewandowski to have been robbed of the Ballon d'Or award, after it was cancelled for the first time due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. It was first awarded in 1956. Ronaldo has now won the award six times in the nine years that it has been presented. . Even after having achieved so much, he has plenty of targets on the horizon, and he doesnt look like missing. Not bad for a player rejected by Legia Warsaw as a teenager. Robin van Persie (Arsenal and Manchester United), 10. The latest rumours and stories from around the world of football. Or Lewandowski's 1st? Watch: The evolution of Robert Lewandowski. 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