How do Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi compare in 2021?

Goals

Lewandowski missed out on the Ballon d'Or, but he did win the new Striker of the Year award at the ceremony in Paris. In fact, who else could have possibly picked up that honour as the Poland international's sensational stats speak for themselves.

After his 34 league strikes (from only 31 games) — the most ever scored by a non-German — in the 2019/20 season, he outdid himself, and absolutely everyone else who has ever played in the Bundesliga in 2020/21. His last-gasp strike in the Matchday 34 win over Augsburg was his 41st of the Bundesliga campaign, and meant he broke Gerd Müller's single-season scoring record, which had stood since 1972.

Messi matched Lewandowski's feat of finishing as his league's top scorer, but 'only' netted 30 in 36 La Liga games for Barcelona in 2020/21. He has also started the 2021/22 season — his first at PSG — slowly, taking five Ligue 1 appearances to net his first league goal and has also struggled for fitness.

Neither of those have been a concern for Lewandowski, who currently has 14 goals in 13 Bundesliga games. That is, admittedly, a 'dip' in form compared to the outrageous 17 he got in the opening 13 matches of 2020/21 (one of which he missed due to injury), but it's only not superhuman by his own stratospheric standards.

The Ballon d'Or is given for achievements over the calendar year, and in goal terms Lewandowski has the edge by some margin: 61 strikes in 51 games to Messi's 41 in 56. That's an astounding average of 1.19 goals per match for the Bayern man, 0.7 per game for Messi, which is still phenomenal, but…

How they score

Both players are attacking all-rounders, but obviously score more with their stronger foot. Lewandowski has netted 27 in all competitions at club level with his lethal right foot in 2021 while Messi's wand of a left foot has conjured 24.

The Argentine has yet to finish with his right foot in the calendar year, while Lewandowski has found the net six times with his 'weaker' left foot. There is a significant height differential between the 5'5" pocket genius and the strapping six-foot Pole, so Lewandowski's five headers to Messi's one is no surprise.

The Bayern man comes out on top with 10 penalties to Messi's three, though the latter has whipped four direct free-kicks into opponents' nets; Lewandowski has to leave the set-piece opportunities to Joshua Kimmich & Co. in the Bayern ranks.

Assists

It is difficult to compare the two in this regard given they play in different positions. Given his slightly deeper role, Messi, naturally, has the upper hand with 17 assists to Lewandowski's 10 over the calendar year. Given the Pole does not take but is rather on the receiving end of Bayern's set-pieces, usually finding himself inside rather than outside the penalty area, getting into double figures for teeing up teammates is quite an achievement.

Trophies

This one is a difficult category in which to pick a 'winner' between the two. While Lewandowski won the Bundesliga — Bayern's ninth successive league triumph — Messi missed out on the La Liga crown, but did lift the Copa del Rey, Spain's domestic cup competition.

A DFL Super Cup winner's medal was also added to Lewandowski's vast collection, but Messi did claim a milestone medal in his career last summer.

Despite all his success at club level and the quality of the Argentina squad over the last decade, the Albiceleste's senior team had not won a major trophy with Messi. They have now, defeating arch-rivals Brazil in the Copa America final last summer with their mercurial number 10 instrumental in the success.

National team performance

Messi finished joint-top scorer in the competition with four goals and was named the tournament's best player as he led Argentina to the summit of South American football.

He netted nine goals in 16 international appearances in 2021, including a hat-trick in his nation's 3-0 win over Bolivia in September's 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

While we are certain to see Argentina and Messi — injury permitting — at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Lewandowski's future at the final tournament remains in question with a play-off against Russia and then — if successful — versus Sweden or Czech Republic.

The 33-year-old does not have the same supporting cast at international level, but has carried his nation with 11 goals in 12 2021 internationals. Three of those strikes came at UEFA EURO 2020 where he very nearly took his team into the knockout stages, which would have been some achievement.

Career

One of the criteria for the Ballon d'Or is a player's entire career, and in this regard, Messi has very few — if any — peers with even Lewandowski trailing him.

While Lewandowski has nine Bundesliga titles, Messi has 10 La Liga crowns and there are seven Copa del Reys compared to four DFB Cups.

Messi also has four UEFA Champions Leagues to Lewandowski's one from the 2019/20 treble-winning season, while the Bayern man has finished top scorer in the competition once to Messi's six.

Lewandowski can boast of having tallied more goals in a single UCL season than Messi though: his 15 in 2019/20 is one better than the new PSG man's best from 2011/12 when he was still with Barca.

Also Messi is the competition's second-top scorer of all-time with Lewandowski behind him in third but the Bayern man's 82 goals have come in 101 games, an incredible strike rate of 0.81 goals per match in European club football's top competition. Messi's 123 in 154 appearances average out at 0.8 goals a game, still breathtaking, but a sigh behind Lewandowski.