Robert Lewandowski finishes 8th at the Ballon d’Or awards

Bayern Munich’s very own Robert Lewandowski was in Paris today for the 2019 France Football award ceremony. Dressed in a smart black tuxedo with a jet black bow tie to match, the Poland captain was Bayern’s one and only representative at the awards, unless you count his wife Anna Lewandowska, clad in a lovely flowing black dress. Black must have been the dress code for the Lewandowskis this evening.

Lewandowski was the only Bayern player to make the top ten in the Ballon D’or rankings, finishing ahead of Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva, both of Manchester City. Considering his outstanding performances last season, when he won the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal with Bayern and finished top scorer in both competitions, and especially his performances this season, it is disappointing to see him ranked so low. Hopefully he can deliver even more goals as the season goes on and show his doubters a thing or two. What better place to start than Mönchengladbach on Saturday?

Sadly, Lewandowski was also the only Bayern player to make the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or. His club captain Manuel Neuer, however, was included in the 10-man shortlist for the first ever Yashin Trophy at the France Football awards. That honor went to Liverpool’s Alisson Becker, deservedly so, considering he won the Champions League with Liverpool and the Copa America with Brazil. That said, it would have been amazing if Neuer had won, not only because he also is deserving, but also because the award was presented on stage by none other than Lewandowski himself. A reunion on stage for Bayern’s leaders in attack and defense would have been a sight to behold.

Meanwhile, the Ballon D’or trophy itself went to Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, already his sixth, beating out Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo. Here is the full top ten list for this years awards:

10. Riyad Mahrez (Man City)

9. Bernardo Silva (Man City)

8. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern)

7. Alisson Becker (Liverpool)

6. Kylian Mbappé (PSG)

5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

4. Sadio Mane (Liverpool)

3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)

2. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Glückwunsch to everyone, and here’s to another fantastic year of football!