Ballon d’Or: Muller claims Lewandowski more deserving of award than Messi

Messi
collected
his
record-extending
seventh
accolade
after
more
success
with
Barcelona
and
Argentina,
who
ended
a
28-year
wait
for
a
major
trophy
with
their
Copa
America
win,
despite
struggling
at
new
club
Paris-Saint
Germain.

The
34-year-old
has
scored
just
once
for
PSG
in
seven
Ligue
1
outings
this
term,
while
Lewandowski
has
netted
25
times
in
20
appearances
across
all
competitions
this
season
for
Bayern.

The
Poland
forward
also
registered
41
goals
in
just
29
league
games
for
Die
Roten
last
campaign
to
break
Gerd
Muller’s
49-year
record
in
a
single
Bundesliga
season,
but
only
finished
runner-up
at
Monday’s
ceremony.

While
coronavirus
forced
a
cancellation
of
the
2020
Ballon
d’Or,
which
Lewandowski
appeared
favourite
for,
Muller
feels
his
team-mate
was
deserving
of
the
2021
award
as
well.

Ballon
d’Or
2021:
Who
won
what
–
Full
list
of
award
winners

“From
a
Bavarian,
Polish
and
also
from
a
German
point
of
view,
the
presentation
of
the
Ballon
d’Or
yesterday
evening
was
definitely
a
disappointment,”
Muller
wrote
in
a
post
on
his
official
LinkedIn
profile.

“For
some
even
a
little
more.
Although
I’ve
been
in
the
business
for
a
bit
longer
and
was
therefore
not
really
surprised
at
the
outcome
(it
was
similar
with
Franck
Ribery
in
2013),
the
whole
thing
formed
or
reinforced
a
thought
in
me:
We
have
great
players
in
the
Bundesliga
and
we
have
to
not
hide
us.
However,
further
international
successes
are
necessary
for
global
recognition.

“This
is
also
a
huge
motivation
for
me
to
put
everything
into
the
balance
in
order
to
bring
the
Champions
League
back
to
Munich
and
to
show
the
football
world
what
is
going
on.
And
above
all,
what
German
football
has
to
offer.

“We
have
the
next
opportunity
to
do
so
next
Wednesday
in
the
Champions
League
game
against
Barcelona.
Let’s
tackle
it!

“PS:
With
Lionel
Messi,
he
is
probably
the
best
individualist
football
has
ever
produced.
So
congratulations
to
Lionel
on
winning
the
Ballon
d’Or,
even
if
I
think
that
Robert
Lewandowski
would
have
deserved
it
more
this
time.”