Over the past 2 years, no-one has been a better footballer on the planet than Robert Lewandowski. Considering this label has been the play thing between Messi and Ronaldo for over a decade, Lewandowski’s current standing is indicative of the extraordinary heights he has reached. Unfortunately for the Polish striker, his form coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, denying him the 2020 Ballon D’or. Despite him reaching new levels this year, his chances of victory aren’t as secure as they should be as they significantly rest on his performances in the Euros.
The Ballon D’or, despite being the main award recognizing the best player on the planet, is very flawed. It tends to hinge more on a player’s performance in major competitions like the Euros, World Cup, Champions League etc, than their weekly performances throughout the entire year. Obviously a player’s performance on the biggest stages is important in determining the best player on the planet but by purely considering that, which the Ballon D’or tends to do, it ignores the ability of players to consistently perform week in week out, glorifying a handful of games and makes them representative of an entire year.
This results in the award being given to a very good player that plays for the team that happens to win the major competitions instead of the ACTUAL best player in the world. Luka Modric’s triumph in 2018 is the example that sticks out like a sore thumb. The successes of Croatia and Real Madrid in the World Cup and Champions League respectively, propelled him into collecting the award when in reality, Messi and Ronaldo were more deserving due to being more consistent, but were overlooked due to their failings at the World Cup.
Lewandowski is in the same situation that befell Messi and Ronaldo whereby all his ridiculous and consistent achievements with Bayern Munich are in real danger of being overlooked if he fails to replicate it with Poland in his next 3 games, minimum. If he fails to perform then voters may turn their attention to the player that just happens to be playing for the best teams that year and that player will most probably be N’Golo Kante.
Kante is riding the crest of a wave right now. His performances have peaked just at the right time. He was instrumental in Chelsea’s Champions League win and his French side is most likely going to go deep into the Euros. If he manages to keep this level of performance for just 7 games, maximum, then Lewa’s record breaking 41 goals in 29 games would cease to exist and the Kante hype would propel him into an undeserved Ballon D’or like Modric 3 years ago.
Lewandowski’s record in major tournaments for Poland is quite disgusting as per his standards with just 2 goals in 11 games. This is made even more concerning by the fact that his opponents were the likes of Greece, Senegal and Japan. He simply has to rectify this stat during this Euros if he wants to win the award. Poland aren’t expected to go deep like France but if Lewandowski can bang in 3 or 4 goals in a relatively easy group of Spain, Sweden and Slovakia as well as take Poland to the quarters, then it will remind the voters of his accomplishments this year thus assuring him the Ballon D’or.
No-one deserves this award more than him but these upcoming fixtures, starting with Slovakia today are most critical in ensuring his title and preventing him from falling down the trap door that is the fleeting memory of football fans. Messi and Ronaldo had the luxury of their multiple Ballon D’ors to cushion their robbery of 2018 but this might be Lewa’s only shot at the title and his potential robbery for Kante would be a tragedy Shakespeare would be proud of.
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