Lionel Messi’s seventh Ballon d’Or win has created much debate among the footballing stars.
Lionel Messi was awarded the Ballon d’Or for the year 2021, which marked his seventh award.
However, the Argentine finishing first in the rankings appears to haven’t gone well with his rival and Manchester United star, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo, who finished sixth in the rankings, has commented “ facts” on a post made by his fan page on Instagram, which showed the disapproval against the Argentine winning the award.
The post read (h/t Marca): “And who is the prize for? For Messi, who only won the Copa del Rey with Barcelona, hasn’t scored a goal against Real Madrid since Cristiano left, disappeared in the season’s big games, won Copa America which in theory is every four years but is now practically every year.
“He didn’t score in the final or the semi-final and he’s had a weak season with PSG on an individual level. For Cristiano to win this prize, it needs to be 300 percent unquestionable but with Messi, it’s the opposite, he can have a quiet season, well below par, and they always find a way to favour him and give him the prize. A robbery. A disgrace.
“Simply deplorable. If you saw it, you saw it. Anyone intelligent enough knows who really deserved it. Receiving prizes without earning them is false happiness, with no pride. Regardless of these prizes, CR7 will always be the best in history!”
Similarly, Real Madrid star Toni Kroos commented that Messi didn’t deserve to win the Ballon d’Or and his teammate Karim Benzema should have won the award instead.
Robert Lewandowski was touted to win this year’s Ballon d’Or following his stellar form at Bayern Munich. However, he ended up second in the rankings.
Messi lifting the prestigious award for the record seventh time doesn’t come as a surprise due to his incredible 2020/21 season, where he led Barcelona to Copa del Rey and Argentina to Copa America glory.
