Cristiano Ronaldo deserves more Ballon d’Or’s than Lionel Messi, proclaims Maurizio Sarri
Lionel Messi won his record sixth Ballon d’Or in December, one more than his rival Cristiano Ronaldo. Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri feels that his player Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to win the prestigious individual prize more than the Argentine and it is annoying to see Messi with more Golden balls.
In an interview with Goal, Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri has revealed that it feels annoying to see Lionel Messi have more Ballon d’Or’s than Cristiano Ronaldo. Both of the megastars were tied at five Ballon d’Or’s each but the Argentine did one better when he beat Ronaldo to the prize in December and in the process becoming the first player to win six golden balls.
Cristiano Ronaldo finished third behind Lionel Messi and Virgil Van Dijk despite winning the Serie A title in his first season with Bianconeri as well as lifting the UEFA Nations League crown with Portugal. The ex-Manchester United star’s coach at Juve, Maurizio Sarri, feels that Ronaldo deserves to win more individual prizes and has admitted that he’ll try and help Ronaldo win the next season’s Ballon d’Or.
“I would like to help Cristiano win the sixth Ballon d'Or first. It's really annoying thinking that someone won more [Ballons d'Or] than him. I think about him and I think helping him, it is my goal and the goal of the team. It is right for him," said Sarri to Goal.
The ex-Chelsea boss had to leave Ronaldo out of the team for Old Lady’s Coppa Italia clash with Udinese as the latter was struggling due to illness. However, the Portuguese’s absence didn’t hurt the clubs intentions as they ran riot over Udinese winning 4-0. Paulo Dybala scored a brace and set up one for a teammate Gonzalo Higuain which saw Sarri tipped the ex-Palermo man to feature in next year’s Ballon d’Or contenders list should he continue to contribute at similar levels.
“Dybala is going to be one of the contenders in the next years. I think so," Sarri added. Dybala is a top player. As every top player when they are becoming confident and having the right age, they are playing like a top player. don't think a manager can teach something to a top player. Dybala is going to leave a mark in world and European football in the next years. He has got the right age to leave a mark and he's still got many years of his career. He is really confident in this moment after a few difficulties in the past.”, concluded the former Napoli manager.