Lewandowski is one of the most gifted scorers in the history of the game, just let his 5 goals in 9 minutes against Wolfsburg in 2015 speak for itself. However, the Ballon d’Or is awarded to the best player, not just the top scorer.
According to senior Mac Brown, “Obviously, in terms of goals alone, Lewandowski scored more goals, but Lewandowski is also a striker. Messi did not drop form with a struggling and underperforming Barcelona side.”
Up until recently, Messi had not won a single international trophy with his team, Argentina, however, Messi had an outstanding performance this year in the Copa America. He won player of the tournament and led his side to the trophy after losing 2 consecutive finals in 2015 and 2016 in penalty shoot-outs.
“The storyline of winning his first international trophy and beating Brazil in the final and being resilient throughout the year is too hard to ignore,” Brown said.