Lewandowski slams Messi's Ballon d'Or statement about 2020 award

Last week, Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi was awarded a record-extending seventh Ballon d'Or trophy. After receiving the award in a ceremony in Paris, the Argentine revealed that he hopes France Football would still give 2021 runner-up Robert Lewandowski the 2020 trophy.

The Bayern Munich star was widely believed to be the frontrunner to win the prestigious trophy last year, but the ceremony was cancelled and the award itself was not given due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Football was put on hold for several months, and France Football decided that there was not enough time to determine a true winner.

Fast forward to 2021, and football has pretty much resumed back to the same pace as it was pre-pandemic. Messi won the award, but it was his most controversial win to date. Numerous players have spoken up against the decision, and Lewandowski was also vocal about his disappointment.

"I felt sadness," he said, in an interview with Polish outlet Kanale Sportowym, as quoted by Marca.

He acknowledged that it was a privilege to be up there competing with Messi for the award, but he was not pleased with the outcome. He has a good reason to be disappointed, considering the fact that he scored 48 goals in the 2020/21 campaign on his way to winning the Bundesliga, DFL-Supercup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup with Bayern Munich.

On the contrary, Messi only won the Copa del Rey with Barcelona. On the international stage, he won the Copa America with Argentina, but he was far from the most important player on the pitch during the campaign. In fact, it was his PSG teammate Angel Di Maria who was the goal scorer and man of the match in the final.

This season, Lewandowski has already scored 16 Bundesliga goals in 14 games. In comparison, Messi has only scored a total of 4 goals for PSG in all competitions.

In response to Messi's call to award Lewandowski with the 2020 trophy, the latter said, "I'm not that enthusiastic about getting the 2020 award. I would like it [Messi's 2020 Ballon d'Or statement] to be a sincere and courteous statement from a great player and not just an empty words."