In any other year, Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski could have a legitimate claim on the Ballon d’Or award.
An award that has been the exclusive preserve of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi since 2008, aside from in 2018 when Luka Madrid was surprisingly handed the gong.
In 2019/20, the Polish striker ended up as top scorer in the Champions League, the German Bundesliga and the German Cup competitions, all of which the Bavarian’s were triumphant in.
With Barcelona fading almost to oblivion last season, and Juventus only managing a domestic league win, there really wasn’t any other candidate that came close to Lewandowski in terms of being a deserved winner.
“Me,” he said to Sportowe Fakty and cited by Sport when asked who he believed should, hypothetically, have won the award.
“We won everything available at Bayern. We won every competition and I was the top scorer in each competition.
“I believe any player who achieves that should win the Ballon d’Or.”
He still has a chance at winning FIFA’s ‘The Best,’ an award from football’s governing body, after they chose to split from France Football, who award the Ballon d’Or.
Given his credentials, it would be a huge surprise if he didn’t take that trophy home as a consolation.