Robert Lewandowski finished second in the 2021 Ballon d’Or rankings as Lionel Messi picked up a record seventh award. This time has definitely been the one with the most scrutiny for the Argentinian. A lot of fans, and footballers believed that Lewandowski deserved the Ballon d’Or.
The Polish striker broke Gerd Muller’s record of scoring 40 goals in one Bundesliga season, and missed a few games as well. He is now the record holder for the most goals scored in one Bundesliga season with 41. Moreover, he also lifted the Bundesliga shield with Bayern Munich.
France Football’s chief, Pascal Ferre, voted for Lewandowski as his first choice ahead of Lionel Messi. The 2021 winner also conceded that Lewandowski deserved the 2020 edition of the award and that France Football should’ve given it to him.
Jorginho completes the top three this year, alongside Messi and Lewandowski. But, Togo’s Mathias Ayena and Uzbekistan’s Grigoriy Rtveladze had voted for Mason Mount to be in the top three. The Chelsea academy graduate scored nine goals and provided eight assists in 55 games as Chelsea won their second Champions League.
The voting process for the Ballon d’or states that each journalist has to select five players from the 30-man shortlist, and rank them in descending order of merit.
The top pick receives six points, the second player on the list gets four points, while the third pick is awarded three points. The last two players among the five-man picks receive two and one point respectively.
