- Messi wins eighth Ballon d'Or
- Matthaus says Haaland should have won
- Di Maria trolls German legend
WHAT HAPPENED? Messi won the prestigious award for a record eighth time on Monday night, edging out City striker Haaland and Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe into second and third respectively. But former Germany midfielder Matthaus said this was a "farce", pointing to the fact that Haaland won the treble with City and scored 52 goals in all competitions last term. The 36-year-old, on the other hand, scored 21 goals for PSG, but played a vital role in Argentina winning last year's World Cup. While the deserved winner is up for debate, fellow Argentine and Benfica winger Di Maria did something of a brutal put down on an Instagram post that posted a snippet of the German's anti-Messi comments.
WHAT THEY SAID: Matthaus, who won the Ballon d'Or in 1990, told Sky Germany: "Haaland has done better than Messi for the entire year. It's undeserved that Messi won. But that shows that a World Cup counts more than anything else. For me, Haaland is the best player of the last 12 months. He won major titles with Manchester City and broke goalscoring records in the process. For me, there is no way around Haaland. The choice is a farce, even though I am a Messi fan."
When the Instagram account, Diario.ole, posted some of Matthaus' remarks, Di Maria commented: "Go and cry somewhere else."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Messi, who now plays for Inter Miami in MLS, is in the autumn years of his career but is undoubtedly still one of the best players in the world. He is still proving his quality time after time on the international stage and, naturally, is one of the greatest to ever play the sport.
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GettyWHAT NEXT? Messi will next be in action for Argentina later this month whereas Haaland will face Bournemouth for City on Saturday.