Lionel Messi has firmly secured his place as the greatest of all time in the history books with his exceptional heroism in the Qatar World Cup. Following this, his move to Inter Miami has proven to be the most influential development for Major League Soccer.
Lionel Messi has added another monumental achievement to his legacy by winning the record-eighth Ballon d’Or Award in 2023. Recently, the World Cup winner revealed his intention to outshine Robert Lewandowski during a World Cup clash.
Lionel Messi clarifies dribbling intentions against Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski is renowned as one of the most prolific strikers of the modern generation. The forward enjoyed a glorious twelve-season stint in the German top-flight Bundesliga. During this period, he won countless trophies and shattered records with his exceptional goal-scoring prowess.
In 2022, the Polish striker made a significant move to the Catalan giants, FC Barcelona, concluding their quest for a prolific goal scorer after the departure of talisman Messi and Luis Suárez. Lewandowski wasted no time immersing himself in Barça colors and eventually became the second Barça forward, alongside Luis Suárez, to clinch the Pichichi Award last season.
Recently, former Barcelona star Lionel Messi revealed his intentions to humiliate the Polish international with his dribbling during the World Cup match between Argentina and Poland. The incident that prompted Messi to do so dates back to the 2021 Ballon d’Or Gala.
When Messi lifted his seventh France Football award ahead of Lewandowski, in his winning speech, the Argentine insisted that the Polish striker deserved to win the 2020 Ballon d’Or, which was called off due to the pandemic.
However, Messi’s words of encouragement didn’t sit well with the former Bayern Munich forward as he questioned the sincerity of the comments, leading to a feud between them.
Messi revealed, “Lewandowski’s statement bothered me because when I won the Ballon d’Or I said the thing I was feeling, but his talking like that bothered me. After that, we met, talked, and agreed that it was a misunderstanding,” while speaking to ESPN Argentina.
Messi was named 2021 Ballon d’Or winner ahead of Lewandowski
Despite the exchanges of comments following the Ballon d’Or ceremony in 2021, Messi and Lewandowski remain on good terms. The subsequent feud, stemming from a misunderstanding has been resolved.
Unfortunately, Robert Lewandowski missed out on his first Ballon d’Or for the second successive year, despite a record-breaking season where he scored 41 goals. He finished second in the voting, behind Messi.
However, despite not securing the Ballon d’Or, Lewandowski didn’t leave the event empty-handed. He was awarded the newly introduced Striker of the Year accolade at the Ballon d’Or 2021 as a consolation.
In that season, Lionel Messi had a brilliant individual campaign with 58 goal contributions for both club and country. Additionally, he achieved a significant milestone by winning his first international trophy with the national team.
