Lewandowski was robbed of 2020 Ballon d’Or but is honing in this time
Lewandowski #Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski won it all last season but he was robbed of the greatest individual prize: the Ballon d’Or.
The Bayern Munich No 9 spearheaded the German giants to the Treble last season as he scored an incredible 55 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions.
He looked a shoo-in for the Ballon d’Or but was denied his moment when it was announced that the organisers had decided to cancel the event due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Robert Lewandowski is enjoying another brilliant season at German giants Bayern Munich
© Provided by Daily Mail
That decision was made last July and shortly afterwards Lewandowski insisted: ‘The Ballon d’Or is no theme in my life because we have the Champions League, we have so many games until the end of the year and this is more important.’
The Polish striker fulfilled his words as Bayern ended that disrupted season a month later as champions of Europe for the sixth time in their illustrious history.
Theirs and Lewandowski’s success shows no signs of slowing down this term too.
Complacency is clearly not in their vocabulary with the German giants having already won the FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup and German Super Cup.
They remain on course for a Quintuplet too. In the Bundesliga they sit four points clear at the top, while they booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday night with a 6-2 aggregate win over Lazio. The only blotch on another stellar campaign was a shock German Cup second-round exit to second-division outfit Holstein Kiel on penalties in January.
Forgetting that blip, at the heart of Bayern’s success once again is Lewandowski.
We’re only in mid-March but already he has a jaw-dropping 39 goals in 35 appearances for the club this season – with 33 of them as a starter.
If you wish to break this down further then his domestic record is simply staggering. In 24 Bundesliga matches he has 32 goals – 13 more than Andre Silva (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) who sit joint-second in the race for that Golden Boot.
His ability to find the back of the net is all the more remarkable when you consider that he has more goals on his own than the bottom seven teams have in the Bundesliga (Werder Bremen: 30, Augsburg: 27, Koln: 23, Arminia Bielefeld: 20, Hertha Berlin: 28, Mainz: 24 and Schalke: 16).
Lewandowski isn’t just scoring though, he is also assisting. He has eight assists in the Bundesliga this season – exactly double his tally from the previous campaign.
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Quite simply he is on a tear. He only needs nine goals to break Bayern and Germany legend Gerd Muller’s record of 40 goals in a single Bundesliga season (1971-72). With nine games left, that is more than capable for the Pole.
It’s not just that record of Muller’s Lewandowski has in his crosshairs. The 32-year-old sits second in the Bundesliga list for all-time top goalscorers with 269 (across spells at Dortmund and Bayern). Only Muller (365) has more in the history of Germany’s top flight.
He stands a good chance to surpass his tally of 55 goals from last season too. With nine games left in the Bundesliga, he has the potential of a further five fixtures in the Champions League too.
In Europe’s elite competition he has netted five times this season in six appearances, averaging a goal every 103 minutes and with a shot accuracy of 56 per cent.
Aside from the statistical evidence, Lewandwoski routinely is lauded for his all-around ability. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp named him this week as the best player he has ever coached.
Lewandowski signed for Klopp’s former club, Borussia Dortmund, in 2010 and went on to win two Bundesliga titles, the German Cup and reach the 2012-13 Champions League final under his tutelage.
Jurgen Klopp (left) has named the Polish striker as the best player he has ever managed
© Provided by Daily Mail
When asked who was the best player he had worked with as a manager, Klopp told Sport Bild: ‘Robert Lewandowski. It actually won’t be fair to say that about any other player except Lewy.
‘What he has made out of his potential, how he pushed himself to become the player he is today, that’s extraordinary.
‘If every player has a development similar to Lewandowski, when I first saw him at Lech Poznan, then the football world would be completely crazy.
‘All players would win all their duels, the full backs would complete all their crosses, the midfielders would be strong in one against ones, the wingers would tackle and play precise long balls.’
Not only does Klopp believe Lewandowski has an ‘extraordinary’ talent, he credits the striker’s impeccable work-rate.
The 53-year-old added: ‘Lewy took every step he needed to take to be that goal machine. Every one.
‘He has immersed himself in the game, he just knows in every situation what he has to do, where he has to go. Lewy is an absolute machine.’
That’s a ringing endorsement from a manager that currently has Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane at Liverpool. It’s got added weight considering Klopp’s brilliant C.V. which includes top-flight titles in Germany and England and a Champions League triumph with the Reds.
Since 2008, only Luka Modric has broken the stranglehold of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the Ballon d’Or.
Robbed of the prestigious gong last season, Lewandowski is well on his way to finally claiming football’s biggest individual prize for his efforts this campaign.
Another Bundesliga and Champions League triumph will certainly cement that.
