As Barcelona prepare to get their La Liga season underway, Robert Lewandowski will have a chance to remind manager Xavi of his comments back in 2021.
Lewandowski was beaten to the Ballon d'Or by Lionel Messi last year, with the Argentine taking the honours in part due to his form in a Barcelona shirt before joining Paris Saint-Germain. Lewandowski, then still at Bayern Munich, was pipped to the top spot by just 33 points.
Barca have been warned by La Liga that they need to reduce their financial outgoings before they can register Lewandowski and their other summer signings. However, if the big-money arrival features against Rayo Vallecano, it will provide an opportunity for him to make Xavi eat his words.
Lewandowski was among the favourites for the 2020 Ballon d'Or, but the prize ultimately wasn't awarded that year. The Poland international still came close in 2021, claiming the second spot ahead of Italy midfielder Jorginho, but Messi's efforts for club and country earned him the win.
Messi urged the organisers to give the 2020 award to Lewandowski, something which France Football later said they were "thinking about". However, despite the former Bayern man's record of 98 goals across the last two seasons, Xavi took Messi's side regarding the 2021 award.
"Messi's win is footballing justice," Xavi said in December 2021, via Marca. "We can also think that others might deserve it, but the moment they open the envelope and they say Messi won it then it's fair."
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"I felt sadness," Lewandowski told Polish outlet Kanale Sportowym after missing out on the Ballon d'Or. "I can't deny it. I can't say I was happy, on the contrary. I have a feeling of sadness.
"To be so close, to compete with Messi, of course, I respect how he plays and what he has achieved. The mere fact that I was able to compete with him shows me the level that I was able to reach."
Messi, meanwhile later doubled down on his belief that he deserved the 2021 award. His total of 613 points was the lowest winning tally since the Ballon d'Or took on its current format in 2016.
"The words I said at that time were from the heart and because I really felt that way," he told TyC Sports, in reference to his claim about the 2020 award. "I said that he deserved the Ballon d'Or before because the previous year had seemed to me that it had been the best, but the year that I won it, he was not the best. I just said that.”
