Robert Lewandowski is a man with a sense of humour, that much we know.
The Big Lewandowski. pic.twitter.com/IJH86Iy4G9
— JOE.co.uk (@JOE_co_uk) September 23, 2015
He was laughing again after the results of the voting for this year’s Ballon d’Or were announced, but we’re not sure he was enjoying himself quite as much.
In addition to his 42 Bayern goals last season – including five in less than 10 minutes against Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga – he helped Poland qualify for Euro 2016 and led the line well as his country was unlucky to go out on penalties at the quarter-final stage.
Oh, and he already has 26 goals this season in as many games, including hat-tricks in three separate competitions.
So, while that might not have been enough to oust Cristiano Ronaldo from top spot and deny the Portuguese a fourth Ballon d’Or, surely he was close, right?
Well, the term ‘close’ is relative, but the Polish star found himself down in 16th place.
Final ranking of Ballon d'Or France Football 2016 :
16th
ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI#ballondor pic.twitter.com/9XyTQ2Dcrr
— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) December 12, 2016
He was below Jamie Vardy. Below Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Below Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Now, those three all had great seasons, while the performances of Pepe, Rui Patricio and Arturo Vidal at international tournaments all saw them leapfrog Lewandowski.
Final ranking of Ballon d'Or France Football 2016 :
12th
RUI PATRICIO#ballondor pic.twitter.com/UzbUysHRbD
— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) December 12, 2016
The Bayern Munich striker seemed befuddled.
Of course, this opened him up to a lot of differing opinions.
https://twitter.com/majkel1999/status/808397678619099136
https://twitter.com/BelgianEden/status/808398664930652162
https://twitter.com/CarefreeDaily/status/808398257814650880
But Lewandowski is right.
How can anyone take serious a ranking that considers Portugal’s goalkeeper to be a better player than one of the best strikers in the world?
