Former Manchester United star Dimitar Berbatov says Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo do not deserve to be on the shortlist for FIFA’s best award.
Both players have dominated football’s individual accolades for over a decade now.
Despite both of them being well into their thirties they remain the benchmark that all are compared against.
Since 2008 they have won 11 of the 12 Ballon d’Ors with Messi claiming six and Ronaldo five.
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But Berbatov is not sure their performances over the past year merit a spot on the list as he singles out Robert Lewandowski as the deserving winner.
Messi was unable to win any silverware in a horror year at Barcelona while Ronaldo and Juventus only claimed the Serie A title.
Lewandowski meanwhile was a leader in Bayern Munich’s treble winning side.
The Pole scored 55 times last term and was many people’s pick for the Ballon d’Or before it was cancelled due to the pandemic.
“I’m surprised Ronaldo and Messi are among finalists for the Fifa Best award as I’m not sure they deserved to be there,” Berbatov told Betfair.
“I think they should give it to Robert Lewandowski. I think he deserves it.
“I’m not that sure who else should be there. People will always argue and speculate about who should be there. It is these three players and I think Lewandowski deserves to get the award.
“It would be unfair if he didn’t win it. I think it was unfair the Golden Ball didn’t happen this year as he was my favourite and a lot of people’s favourite.
“I think he should have got that award and hopefully this will be compensation.
“Sometimes unfortunately football is business and behind the curtains and the PR/Agents work way more away the camera from what you see.
“For me, Lewandowski is up there with the best strikers in modern football. This is a subject where nobody can agree on one player as in my opinion you cannot compare players from different times.
“Kane, Messi, Ronaldo, Aguero who have been scoring goals for many years are among the best.
“There are others, but with Lewandowski the way he plays the game and moves around the pitch, he should be in my three top strikers; he is great.”
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