Messi beats Lewandowski for seventh Ballon d’Or
LIONEL MESSI switched clubs this year but some things never change as he won the Ballon d’Or for a remarkable seventh time.
At a glittering ceremony in Paris’s Theatre du Chatelet last night, Chelsea were named Team of the Year for winning the Champions League.
But in the main award, Messi — now of Paris Saint-Germain — saw his status as the best player in the world confirmed once again. He is the first man to win the Ballon d’Or in three different decades.
Some will wonder how Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich’s Polish goal machine, missed out. He did his best to mask his disappointment and was magnanimous in defeat but missing out again clearly hurt. There was at least some consolation as he was named Striker of the Year.
It has been argued that 2021 was ‘ordinary’ for Messi but his achievements in the last 12 months would still represent the achievements of a lifetime for others. He was the top scorer in La Liga with 30 goals for Barcelona and scored a remarkable effort in their Copa del Rey triumph over Athletic Bilbao.
He also went on to win the Copa
America with Argentina, scoring four times (the most in that competition) and providing five assists.
There were no Premier League players in attendance due to travel restrictions but Chelsea’s Jorginho fared best, coming third ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (sixth) and Mohamed Salah (seventh).
Gianluigi donnarumma won the Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper while Pedri took the Kopa Trophy for the leading Under 21 player.
Barcelona star Alexia Putellas won the main women’s award.