“2020 was an injustice” – Polish football expert claims Robert Lewandowski has higher chances of winning 2021 Ballon d'Or
Robert Lewandowski's chances of winning the Ballon d'Or are very high, according to Ryan Hubbard. The Polish football expert believes the Bayern Munich star should have won it last year before the award ceremony was canceled.
The Ballon d'Or award ceremony takes place tonight, and Lewandowski is among the favorites to win. Lionel Messi and Jorginho are said to be the closest competitions for the Pole, while Karim Benzema reportedly stands an outside chance.
While speaking to CaughtOffside, Hubbard claimed that the chances of Lewandowski winning the Ballon d'Or are higher today than last year. He believes that performances from last year will be taken into account as the ceremony was canceled due to COVID-19 affecting the leagues.
"His chances are very high – probably even higher than last year," he said. "2020 was an injustice for Lewy, as he would have won last year's award by a country mile. It is, however, quite possible that 2020 performances will be taken into account by the voting journalists this time; and if so, he'll be the odds-on favourite. But Robert does have the numbers – if not the trophies – to back up his claim solely for this year, too."
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Is Lewandowski the greatest Polish footballer without the Ballon d'Or?
Hubbard believes Lewandowski is undoubtedly Poland's best-ever striker. If he wins the Ballon d'Or tonight, there is nothing stopping him from being the country's best-ever footballer.
"If he isn't yet, he is definitely on the way to doing so," Hubbard said. "While Lewy has undoubtedly passed Wlodzimierz Lubanski as the country's best-ever striker, there has always been a debate over whether he has surpassed both Kazimierz Deyna and Zbigniew Boniek to become the best that Poland has ever produced.
"The fact that those two have earned honours for the national team (third-placed finishes at the World Cup or, in the case of Deyna, an Olympic gold medal) has always put them ahead in the pecking order, but after the last few years, it's hard to argue against Lewandowski having now edged past them," he added.
Lewandowski is among the majority of the journalists' top 3 for the Ballon d'Or this year as he has been in top form for Bayern Munich and Poland.