Rio Ferdinand picked Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski as the winner of Ballon d'Or 2021 and called him a "special player". "Ronaldo and Messi have always been the benchmark...but Robert Lewandowski, it's his time to potentially win the Ballon d'Or this year," he said. Lewandowski scored 41 goals in 29 games during Bundesliga 2020/2021.