Lewandowski primed for Barcelona's visit after Ballon d'Or shut out

Robert Lewandowski will face Barcelona on Wednesday, will the Ballon d'Or loss to Lionel Messi be fresh in his mind? (Photo credit: UEFA.com)

When Lionel Messi was announced as the winner of the 2021 Ballon d’Or, the camera gazed on Robert Lewandowski, his sheepish smile was loaded with deep thoughts.

Moments later as the former Barcelona legend stepped to the podium to give his speech, not many expected anything different from the fake surprises and badly hidden sense of elation from the record winner, but he sent some flowers the way of the Polish striker.

“I wish the organizers would hand Lewandowski the award for 2020 because he deserves it” was what Messi said as he continued his speech, with Barcelona up next for Bayern Munich in the final group game of the champions league, would that Messi statement placate the Pole?

Barcelona must beat Bayern Munich and hope Benfica doesn’t beat Dinamo Kyiv in case result doesn’t go the way of the Catalan giants in Munich on Wednesday, now that’s where Robert Lewandowski comes in with Messi’s alliance with Barca fresh in his mind.

How can Barcelona stop free scoring Bayern Munich? From the way Barca have played so far under Xavi Hernandez their new manager, the signs are there that they’re up for greatness in the coming years, but they’re going to do themselves a world of good not to be too daring in Germany.

Bayern has humiliated Barcelona in recent past, Wednesday might not be different in the Spanish side go into the game with some spaces behind in search of a win, the likes of Gerrard Muller and Leroy Sane know how to make good use of spaces behind the midfield, you don’t want to annoy them.

Defensively, Barcelona is currently nonexistent, the midfield is fragile with ageing Sergio Busquets flanked by kids, there’s some fire upfront with Memphis Depay and Ousman Dembele pulling strings, but how much of services are they going to get?

Bayern will beat Barcelona on Wednesday, the question is by how much and this certainly means they’re dropping out of the champions league in the group stage for the first time in decades as you expect Benfica to do what they have to do against the Ukrainian side, it is what it is.