4 reasons why Lionel Messi shouldn't win the Ballon d'Or this year
Widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time, Lionel Messi is yet again one of the hot favorites to win the coveted Ballon d'Or award. He has already won the award six times while winning every major club trophy during his tenure at Barcelona.
The Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual award in football. Some of football's finest fight every season to be crowned the best player on the planet. Due to Messi's sheer dominance in Europe, it is hard to talk about the Ballon d'Or without mentioning him.
Ballon d'Or candidates ✨
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Messi has consistently proven that he is still at his very best, and he had a large part to play in Barcelona winning the Copa Del Rey title at the end of the 2020-21 season. In addition to his impact at club level, he led Argentina to a Copa America title in the summer.
It goes without saying that we can never rule out a player like Messi. He has made the Ballon d'Or award his own over the years. However, there are still a few resounding arguments against the Argentine genius lifting the award this time round. On that note, let's take a look at four reasons why Lionel Messi shouldn't win the Ballon d'Or.
#4 Lionel Messi has had a relatively average year
On the surface, this may seem like poor judgment considering Messi has scored 40 goals for his club and country in 2021. But the Argentine maestro has set such lofty standards throughout his career that he is far from matching those sky-high expectations in 2021.
Barcelona had a poor outing under Ronald Koeman, with Messi failing to deliver La Liga success and European glory as the Blaugrana captain. Despite inspiring the Catalan giants to a Copa Del Rey triumph, Messi was subdued in the biggest stages of club football.
Messi is yet to fully find his footing following his move to PSG in the summer. Although he has had a stellar individual campaign, his relativley poor club records might not be enough to win the Ballon d'Or.
#3 Poor run of form with PSG
Messi is yet to return to his very best with PSG. He has undoubtedly taken some time to fit into Mauricio Pochettino's plans and has been injured for a large part of the season so far. The Argentine has yet to score even once in the French top flight so far this season.
Reminder that we are in November and Messi still hasn’t scored or assisted in Ligue 1 yet.
Messi has shown patches of brilliance but is yet to find his rhythm in Paris. Despite scoring three goals in two games against Manchester City and RB Leipzig, his poor run of form in Ligue 1 will surely hamper his chances of winning the Ballon d'Or award.