“Stand upside down and score a goal from the centre line?” – Jerome Boateng raises question on what Lewandowski must do to win Ballon d’Or

Robert Lewandowski’s Bayern Munich teammate Jerome Boateng has become the latest football personality to question the 2021 Ballon d’Or result.

Quite a few football personalities have claimed that there were other, more deserving players who should have been given the award ahead of Lionel Messi. Robert Lewandowski heads this list with his return of 62 goals for club and country last season.

In comparison, Lionel Messi had 50 goals, along with 17 assists but won the Copa America with Argentina earlier this year.

Regardless, multiple big names such as Thomas Muller and Jan Aage Fjortoft have supported the claim that the Polish striker should have already won his first Ballon d’Or. Jerome Boateng is the latest to claim that he does not understand what Lewandowski had to do in order to win the Ballon d’Or. He said:

"If it's all about choosing the best player in the world, it's of course either Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of talent and quality. But when you go by titles and statistics, I think you have to evaluate it differently. It's a shame for Lewy because he definitely deserved it."

Boateng added:

"That reminds me of 2013 when Franck (Ribery) didn't get the award either. I'm very sorry for him. What else should Lewy do? Stand upside down and score a goal from the center line?"

Analyzing Robert Lewandowski’s claim for the 2021 Ballon d’Or award

Robert Lewandowski has every right to be frustrated with his tally of the Ballon d’Or award. Bayern Munich won the European treble in 2020 with Robert Lewandowski top-scoring in all three of the competitions. He ended with figures of 55 goals and 10 assists for Bayern Munich and was easily the most prolific goal-scorer in club football.

However, the 2020 Ballon d’Or ended up being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since last year, Lewandowski has scored 62 goals for club and country and is lagging behind Lionel Messi in terms of overall goal involvements.

He won another Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal with Bayern but lost out arguably due to Messi’s Copa America triumph with Argentine. Robert Lewandowski arguably deserved to win the 2020 Ballon d’Or on the basis of contributions and the trophies won.

Finally, as the Ballon d’Or is a voting-based award, it does not have a set pattern. Luka Modric famously won it in 2019 despite not having that many goal involvements compared to other nominees.

Last year, however, Lionel Messi had slightly more goal involvements and also won the Copa America with Argentina. In Jorginho, was a contender who had a better trophy cabinet.

The Italian won the Euros and the Champions League with Chelsea last season. He arguably deserved to win it for the same reasons that Luka Modric won the award over both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.