LEWANDOWSKI NAMED ON BEST PLAYER LIST

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski has been named as part of the list of contenders for the FIFA Best Men’s Player of the Year for 2021. The Poland national team hitman was the recipient of the same award last year. Lewandowski finished ahead of both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to win the award at the end of 2020. All the three players have been nominated as part of an 11-man nominees’ list for the award.

Poland international Lewandowski has been in sensational scoring form since the turn of the year. Last season, he scored 41 goals in the German Bundesliga to break the long-standing record held by Bayern Munich and German football great Gerd Muller. Ex-Bayern striker Muller had scored 40 times on two occasions in the 70s. Poland national team skipper Lewandowski was able to set a new record for the most goals in a German Bundesliga season despite missing some games towards the end of last season. He missed a few weeks of football after sustaining a knee injury while on duty with Poland for their Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in March.

Lewandowski has been a regular source of goals for Bayern Munich this season in all competitions. He has 24 goals and one assist in 18 Bayern Munich games in all competitions this season. The Polish striker also leads the Golden Boot race in the German Bundesliga this term with 14 goals and one assist in 12 matches. In addition, Lewandowski has the most goals in the Champions League this season with a return of eight goals in four matches.

Apart from the trio of Lewandowski, Messi and Ronaldo, the other players on the FIFA Best Men’s Player of the Year list are the Chelsea duo of Jorginho and N’GoloKante, KylianMbappe of Paris Saint Germain (PSG), Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, PSG superstar Neymar, Liverpool hitman Mohamed Salah, Borussia Dortmund striker ErlingHaaland and Real Madrid star Karim Benzema.