After taking home his record-breaking 7th Ballon d'Or ahead of Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho, Paris Saint-Germain superstar, Lionel Messi, says that Lewandowski deserves to receive his Ballon d'Or for the year 2020.

It is no secret that Messi had an outstanding 2021—leading a struggling Barcelona side to a Copa del Rey title and securing his first international trophy with Argentina at the Copa America. With that said, the PSG star bagged his 7th Ballon d'Or trophy last Monday, moving 2 trophies clear of his all-time rival in Cristiano Ronaldo. The argentine magician finished just ahead of Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and Chelsea midfielder Jorghinho.

There was a serious case for Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, who managed to score a whopping 64 goals in 2021 while winning the Bundesliga, Club World Cup & DFL-Supercup with his club. Lewandowski finished with 580 votes in the standings, just shy of Messi's score of 613.

After winning the prestigious award, the PSG forward made sure to credit Lewandowski for his incredible season—mentioning to him the 2020 Ballon d'Or which wasn't handed to the heavily-favored Polish striker after it was called off.

Via GiveMeSport:

“You deserve your Ballon D'Or. Last year, everyone was in agreement to say that you were the big winner.”

Even English legend Gary Lineker chimed in and agreed with Messi's sentiments.

“Messi agrees. Messi’s right. Give @lewy_official the award. Such an easy thing to do, and the right thing to do.”

Fans agreed with Messi's sentiments but still, the PSG talisman still got some flak for winning this year's award. Football fans across the world made their feelings known as they blasted social media with the word “Robbed”. Nevertheless, a spectacular season for both players, and whether or not fans like the result, Messi reigned supreme.