With 69 goals and 13 assists in 58 games, Levan's 2021 personal report card is so dazzling.
Winning the World Footballer of the Year laurel can somewhat make up for some regrets of missing the Ballon d'Or. But behind the glory, we will also see Levan's shortcomings and the potential to improve in the future.
In the last 4 Champions League knockout rounds and later, he has scored only 1 goal in the group stage, and has finished 4th in the group stage with the Polish national team twice.
Mr. Shizu may not be the end of Levan's career, and if he wants to go to the next level, he has more goals to work on.
01. Bayern's failure to continue the triple crown peak & Levan's personal data is even more dazzling
The past 2 years are the 2 years that belong to the peak of Levan. Bayern Munich won the Treble in 2020, and also let countless fans see the value and role of the Polish center.
Although in the 2020-21 season, the state of the Bundesliga giants declined, and after the unfortunate exit of the DFB-Pokal, they were caught in the Champions League quarter-finals against Paris Saint-Germain.
Watching the 2 goals of front-line teammate ShupoMotin unable to save the team, Levan, who was absent due to injury, was unwilling in his heart, but he could only accept the fate of the arrangement.
In order to make up for regrets and give himself an account, Levan released his talent with the craziest number of goals in 2021:
80 direct goals (69 goals + 11 assists) in a single calendar year, averaging 1.4 goals per game!
His career-highs of 14 doubles + 5 hat-tricks (all of which are personal peaks), 15 consecutive league goals in the Bundesliga with the longest career in the Bundesliga, and 21 consecutive wins in the Champions League (Bayern did not play in 2 games of the round of 8).
Most importantly, in the final battle at the end of 2021, Levan's goal allowed himself to use the figure of 43 goals, breaking the Record for Natural Year Goals in the Bundesliga held by Gade Müller for 49 years.
At the same time, with an individual score of 69 goals in all competitions in 2021, he equaled the annual goal record of European players held by Cristiano Ronaldo. Although slightly less assists than the Portuguese and a shortfall from Messi's 91-goal miracle, this is already one of the greatest achievements in football history.
02. Levan is more like a regular season MVP: champions league knockouts and national team competitions still need to be worked on
If football were awarded the same as basketball, perhaps Levan would be the best choice to win the regular season MVP. But if you shift your attention to the critical stages of the Champions League knockout stages, as well as the national team competition, Levan really still needs to work.
In the last four Champions League knockout rounds and beyond, Levan has scored a total of 2 goals, which happened in the year of Bayern's treble, when he swept Barca 8-2, levan scored his innocuous sixth goal. And 3-0 Lyon, still inconsequential third goal. Even if it is pushed forward a year, Levan's Champions League quarter-finals against Real Madrid, although scoring two goals, are all penalty goals.
In other words, in the 5-year Champions League knockout round, in the quarter-finals, Levan scored only 2 non-penalty points. That number is even far less than his 3-goal achievement at Bayern substitute Shupomotin.
In addition, at the national team level, if it is an accident to be suppressed by Colombia, Japan and Senegal in the fourth place in the group at the 2018 World Cup, then it is a bit harsh to fall in the 4th place at the European Championship even if it is expected that the third place in the group will be promoted to the knockout round.
Even if there is a gap in the strength of the Polish team with Spain and Sweden, the loss to Slovakia is really unacceptable. Perhaps Levan will complain about the huge gap between the strength of the team and Bayern, but leading the motherland out of the group stage should not be a luxury.
03. Set a small goal for 2022: World Cup tickets + Yangwei Champions League knockout matches
As the world footballer of the year for the past 2 years, Levan is naturally eager to prove himself once again in the Golden Globe field. In 2022, he is still the one with the best chance of success. But before that, Levan needs to set 2 small goals for himself.
The Polish centre-forward should not be content with just the Golden Boot in the Bundesliga, even if it is highly likely to allow him to win the European Golden Boot once again.
After all, in the Bundesliga, Bayern's dominance is too strong, and even though 17 excellent scoring opportunities have been wasted, Levan still has 23 goals in the account. Scoring four goals in the bundesliga starts 2022, the Poles' momentum is staggering.
What Levan really needs to prove himself is still in the Champions League knockout stage. The 19 shots on goal in the group stage are clearly better than Ronaldo's 20 shots and 6 goals, and Messi's 15 shots and 5 goals.
However, messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's past achievements have been based on goals scored in the Champions League knockout rounds, and the year they won the Golden Boot is also the key goal in at least the 2-3 rounds of the Champions League knockout rounds. This is precisely what Levan has been extremely lacking in the past few years.
There is also a small goal, that is, Levan should take the Polish national team to get the World Cup tickets. Now that they are mired in the most brutal World Qualifiers European Play-off in history, Poland needs to cross the Russian hurdle and then compete with the winners of Sweden and the Czech Republic for the only ticket.
Conclusion:
The 2020 and 2021 World Footballer of the Year is the best recognition of Levan's achievements, but in 2022, Levan has more goals to overcome.
For strikers, there is nothing that cannot be solved with goals. If 1 goal is not enough, then score the 2nd goal, and if it is not enough, go for a hat-trick.