Robert Lewandowski is on a mission to win the Ballon d’Or, with the striker even going public with the admission that he swapped Bayern Munich for Barcelona over the summer in a bid to improve his chances of finally claiming the award.
Lewandowski spent eight highly successful years in Germany and was positioned as favourite to win the Ballon d’Or in 2020 after a peerless run of form saw him score 55 goals in 47 games as Bayern powered to a league, cup and Champions League treble. However, the striker was then cruelly denied his chance by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw the event cancelled.
The 34-year-old — who did win back-to-back men’s FIFA The Best awards in 2020 and 2021, while also picking up the 2021 Striker of the Year award at the Ballon d’Or ceremony — signed for Barcelona for €45 million this summer and has said that his decision was at least partially influenced by a calculated plot to improve his chances of finally getting his hands on the Ballon d’Or itself.
“I know that Barcelona is the team where the most players have won it. I think the path is shorter from Barca than from Bayern,” the Polish poacher told Marca.
Lewandowski has his eyes on the prize 🏆👀 pic.twitter.com/djFUXsLfeO
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 21, 2022
Indeed, statistics prove that Barcelona players have won European football’s most prestigious individual award more times than any other club — though of course those numbers are significantly skewed by the fact Lionel Messi won it seven times during his stint at Camp Nou between 2009 and 2021.
However, with 11 goals in his first eight games for Barca already this season, it certainly looks like Lewandowski is serious about chasing down the Ballon d’Or that so cruelly eluded him two years ago.
Given that the Catalans have seen their players claim the award on more than twice the number of occasions that Bayern have since the inaugural ceremony in 1956 (which was won by Sir Stanley Matthews, Blackpool’s only recipient so far), it looks like history is also on his side.
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Barcelona (13 Ballon d’Or winners, 6 different players)
Over half of Barca’s total Ballon d’Or wins were amassed by one man: with Messi responsible for the club’s last seven triumphs, taking top spot in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021 — the year in which he left the club to join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.
Prior to Messi’s run of dominance, the Catalans saw Ronaldinho (2005), Rivaldo (1999), Hristo Stoichkov (1994), Johan Cruyff (1973, 1974) and Luis Suarez (1960) win the award while wearing their famous blaugrana stripes.
