Despite Lionel Messi not awarding him any points, Robert Lewandowski won the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award this week for the second year in a row. However, according to the Bayern Munich striker, who himself had Jorginho on one, there should not be too much behind Messi’s choice. The Polish attacker still had to tolerate Messi at the Ballon d’Or, but was now rewarded for his excellent performance.
A few months ago, Lewandowski lost to Messi in the battle for the Ballon d’Or election. At the time, the Argentinian praised the Bayern striker and suggested in his victory speech that the Ballon d’Or of 2020 should be awarded to Lewandowski with retroactive effect. The prize was not awarded that year due to the corona pandemic. However, for the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award this week, Messi chose his team-mates Neymar and Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema over Lewandowski.
“If you look at his statements after the Ballon d’Or, they were beautiful words from him,” Lewandowski said. “That was very nice of him. About his choice now you have to be with him. I haven’t done anything wrong about which he could be mad at me, except in the sporting field. It was his choice and I have to respect it. I shouldn’t be sour about it. I would have put him in second place anyway.”
In the top three of Lewandowski, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had to give priority to Jorginho. The Bayern striker felt the Italian international deserved the accolade more after a year of winning the Champions League and European Championship. “I always look at attacking players, but what Jorginho has won means a lot,” Lewandowski said. “You must always remain neutral. He also scored important goals despite being a number six. He had an amazing year with Chelsea and Italy.”
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