It is that time of the year when speculations and anticipations hover over reality in the world of football. With the award being cancelled in 2020 due to the interruption by COVID-19, the Ballon d’Or is back with a bang, and there is more than one deserving winner.
Some leaks on social media suggest that Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, the man who was touted as the “Undisputed winner” when the award was cancelled last time, has grabbed the prize on the back of a sensational Bundesliga season.
A couple of months before the passing of German legend Gerd Muller, Lewandowski broke his long-standing record of scoring 40 goals in a Bundesliga season.
The Polish striker scored 41 times, with the record-breaking goal coming in the injury time of Bayern’s final game of the season.
He paid a fitting tribute to Muller after scoring, unveiling a shirt under his jersey which said “4EVER MULLER”. The World Cup and Euro winning German striker passed away in August 2021.
Although there is a chance this might not be true, a record-breaking league campaign can be good enough to win the prize. Other contenders for the prize include some usual suspects in Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, whilst Jorginho and N’Golo Kante are high up the pecking order as well.
Jorginho won the UEFA Player of the Year not so long ago, having won the Champions League with Chelsea and Euro with Italy. But his leaked final position for the prize is fiftth, with Messi, Benzema and Mohamed Salah finishing in the respective order after Lewandowski.
Benzema is having the time of his life at Real Madrid, and has bagged one major honour in the UEFA Nations League. Despite not having anything significant in the Barcelona trophy cabinet, Messi’s Copa America triumph with Argentina is touted as a game-changer in his favour. He had a terrific season individually, scoring 38 times for the Catalan giants.
Although Liverpool’s Salah has hit an unreal peak in the last few weeks, it might not be enough as the other contenders have similar numbers with trophies to their credit.
