Iker Casillas criticises Ballon d’Or after Lionel Messi claims seventh award | OneFootball

Former Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has criticised the latest Ballon d’Or awards.

PSG superstar Lionel Messi claimed his seventh Ballon d’Or on Monday night having finished last season as La Liga’s top scorer before going on to win Copa Ámerica with Argentina.

Messi was always favourite to win the award, but second placed Robert Lewandowski can feel hard done by after scoring more than 40 Bundesliga goals last season.

And it seems former Real Madrid stopper Casillas is also unhappy that Messi was given the award again.

He tweeted: “Each time it’s harder to believe in these football awards.

“For me, Messi is one of the fie best players in the whole history of football, but we have to start knowing who stands out most in a season.

“It is not that damn hard. Others make it difficult.”

The awards are given out based on votes from football journalists, ranking the 30 footballers in order.

Chelsea midfielder Jorginho finished in third, despite winning Euro 2020 and the Champions League last season, and playing a pivotal role in both titles.

Meanwhile, Karim Benzema finished in fourth after the best scoring season of his career, though he was certainly outperformed by Lewandowski and was never likely to win it.