After weeks of rumors, Lionel Messi was finally awarded the Ballon d’Or. A large section of the fanbase, however, affirms that Manchester City striker Erling Haaland was a more deserving candidate. Amid Cristiano Ronaldo reacting to a reel that stated that the coveted award was ‘rigged,’ a close friend of the Portuguese has now extended his support.

Erling Haaland scored over 50 goals last season for Manchester City. He also spearheaded the club’s historic treble campaign. And so, his snub has been a hard pill to swallow for many fans.

A close friend of Cristiano Ronaldo believes the Ballon d’Or was rigged

Television director Edu Aguirre and Ronaldo have shared a close relationship since his time at Real Madrid. Speaking to El Chiringuito TV on Lionel Messi winning the Ballon d’Or, Aguirre said, “Just as I believe that the World Cup to Messi was a tribute. I don’t think Messi was, I really mean from the bottom of my heart, I don’t think that Messi was the best player in the World Cup or the best player for Argentina.”

He supports his arguments by saying, “It is not the first for example, Messi was not winning anything with the national team in 2021. He won the Copa America and then won the Ballon d’Or ahead of Lewandowski. Lewandoski has won the Golden Boot, Champions League, and Bundesliga. They took it away from him and gave it to Messi.”

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Edu also believes that Iniesta or Xavi should have won the 2010 Ballon d’Or. “In 2010 they gave it to Leo Messi ahead of Iniesta and Xavi who had won the World Cup with Spain. That was also a tribute to Messi and everyone knows it. The rivals of the World Cup are how there is a kind of marketing that people accept.”

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However, this take does raise the question – how was Messi’s calendar year on the pitch?

Edu has made a statement that Messi did not have a good 2022 World Cup. The stats, however, tell a different story. In the 7 matches, Messi scored 7 goals and provided 3 assists, ending the 33-year-long World Cup drought. Only his former PSG teammate and France forward Kylian Mbappe (8) had more goals.

Many fans believe Messi did not have a good spell for PSG either. And yet, the Argentine scored 20 goals and provided 16 assists in 39 games in the last season. He also helped the club win the Ligue 1.

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Do you think Lionel Messi deserved the award over Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe?