Lionel Messi has become bookies' favourites to win the 2021 Ballon d'Or after leading Argentina to the Copa America triumph earlier this summer.
Some fans, however, do not think that the 34-year-old deserves the award this season, including Sports.ru user @Aleksey Ivanov.
"Can you list at least some facts about how on earth has Messi deserved to claim the Ballon d'Or [this season]? For winning Copa America only?" he wrote.
"He totally failed in the final against Brazil, including missing a close-range sitter before screwing up another chance, attempting a dribble instead of passing the ball to a teammate in a better position.
"He also didn't score against Colombia [in the semi-final], despite having a 300% chance.
"He [and Barcelona] were eliminated from the Champions League as soon as in the last-16 round by PSG (who destroyed them even without Neymar).
"In La Liga, they finished in third, not even second, while losing both Clasicos to Real Madrid. They also failed to beat Atletico twice with Messi contributing to as few as zero goals against both Madrid teams.
"So have people been brainwashed that much by Messi's PR that they want to give the Ballon d'Or for his win against half-amateur Bolivia only?"
Aleksey's reasoning, however, has been disputed by @the special one who used a Diego Maradona analogy to prove him wrong.
"I'll just remind you that Maradona didn't score in the 1986 [World Cup] final but he led Argentina to that final on his own as well as Messi at this summer's Copa America.
"Well, on the other hand, who am I explaining all this to ... you haven't even seen a TV record of Maradona [in the 1986 World Cup final] and you only watch Messi's games to feed up your hate."
