Champions League: Robert Lewandowski to avenge his Ballon d’Or loss on Chelsea

The trophy which every footballer dreams to win at least once in his lifetime is the Ballon d’Or. It has been canceled by its organizers for 2020.

France Football cited that the “lack of level playing field” is the reason behind the cancelation. Amongst the deserving players, Robert Lewandowski might be the most affected player who will be unhappy with the announcement.

Forty-three appearances, 3289 minutes, 52 goals, and 6 assists. The aforementioned are the statistics of Polish striker, Robert Lewandowski. These stats are inhumane considering the start and stop nature of the football season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 31-year-old striker enjoyed the best season in Germany with a half-a-century of goals. He also has eleven goals and is the top scorer in the Champions League competition.

After wrapping up the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal Cup, Bayern Munich and Robert Lewandowski will be eyeing the Champions League trophy. With the team looking stronger than ever and other major sides needing to make a comeback in their respective games, the Bavarians will look for the European title.

Robert Lewandowski had his own plans

On the other hand, Robert Lewandowski had his eye set on the Ballon d’Or trophy with a stupendous performance across all competitions. Now, the focus has to be changed to the UEFA Champions League. The first opponents the Polish striker will be facing is Frank Lampard’s Chelsea.

Chelsea were thrashed 3-0 at Stamford Bridge courtesy of Serge Gnabry, Robert Lewandowski, and Alphonso Davies. The English side will return to the Allianz Arena to face the German giants.

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Other than the red-hot form of the 31-year-old striker, Lampard has his own issues to deal with. Though Chelsea secured Champions League qualification on the final matchday, the defense and goalkeeping have been a major concern.

Among all the top-tier clubs, Chelsea stands 12th in the number of clean sheets in the Premier League. Chelsea has kept only nine clean sheets in 38 games. In the top flight, Chelsea has faced 8.5 shots per game with 16.8 interceptions per game.

Whereas the other English side in the Champions League, Manchester City have faced 7.3 shots per game and has 16 interceptions per game. These defensive records are worrisome for Frank Lampard.

The Blues’ boss is further worried about his goalkeeper. Kepa Arrizabalaga has been inconsistent throughout the season and has one of the worst shots to save ratio in the Premier League 2019-20 season. The player has faced 99 shots and has conceded 47 goals.

Compared to his Spanish compatriot David de Gea, who is often criticized, Kepa has a 54.5% save percentage. David de Gea has a better save percentage of 73.6% despite facing 125 shots throughout the season.

The young defense and fragile goalkeeper looks like a deer in front of a hungry lion. Robert Lewandowski is a hungry lion looking for a feisty dinner when both sides face-off August 8 in the opening weekend of Champions League football. It all remains on Frank Lampard to set his defense up correctly to get anything from the game.

Though the three-goal lead is not very big considering the competitive nature of football, Bayern Munich are a dominant side amongst Europe’s elite. With Robert Lewandowski robbed of the elite trophy, he will be wanting to thrash Chelsea’s defense to avenge not being named the best baller on earth.