Lionel Messi does not feel a favorite for the Ballon d’Or ceremony, on November 29 in Paris. The 34-year-old Argentine attacker of Paris Saint-Germain was the last winner of the trophy awarded by France Football in 2019 for the time being. The six-time Ballon d’Or winner ranks Kylian Mbappé, Neymar, Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema as favorites to receive the award.
“No, I don’t feel like a favorite and I don’t like to talk about it until the results are known. If it happened, it would be great. It would be great to win the Ballon d’Or again,” Messi told France Football. “It’s great to be the only player to have won the Ballon d’Or six times. The seventh Ballon d’Or would be fantastic, I would be very happy and grateful. But I don’t want to think about it any further.”
Messi is asked by the French football magazine about the other favorites. “I’m always afraid of forgetting someone if something like that is asked. There are at least two players in my team that I would easily vote for: Ney and Kylian. Robert Lewandowski has had a great year. And Karim Benzema was excellent too. We also know that big prizes are important. The Champions League, the European Championship and the Copa América play a part in the vote.”
“Whether I should advise Mbappé to win the Ballon d’Or? Frankly, I’m not the person to give him advice. All I can say is that I wasn’t really focused on it,” Messi continues. “The Ballon d’Ors I’ve won are the result of collective victories. If the team plays well, the individuals have a chance to excel. That just happens naturally. The most important thing is to win prizes so that you are in a good position to get the Ballon d’Or.”
“It’s easy to play with a player like Mbappe. In addition, Kylian speaks perfect Spanish, so that ensures that we can get along well on the field. That makes things easier. But I haven’t been with PSG very long, so it’s a bit early to draw conclusions,” Messi said. He is asked about the difference between MSN (Messi, Suárez, Neymar at Barcelona) and MMN (Messi, Mbappé, Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain).
“Age, first of all,” Messi replies with a laugh. “We were young when we met Ney came to play together. Now Kylian is the youngster. The Luis from then is a completely different player than Kylian. Luis is a pure number nine, who functions well in the penalty area. Kylian likes to be on the ball more. He is powerful and extremely fast. If you give him space, he will kill you. They are two spectacular players, with different qualities.”