Courbis would not give the Ballon d’Or to Messi

The French coach Rolland Courbis believes that the Ballon d’Or 2023 is not at all promised to Lionel Messi.

After leading Argentina to their third world championship title, notably by signing an exceptional competition on a personal level, Lionel Messi has become the big favorite to succeed Karim Benzema on the Ballon d’Or list. La Pulga is therefore on track to get this award for the 8^e times of his career.

“The Ballon d’Or, it will be difficult not to give it to Mbappé”

This opinion is however not shared by Rolland Courbis. Speaking on RMC’s After Foot program on Monday evening, he said: “Where we went too fast is with regard to the future Ballon d’Or. We immediately said it was going to be Messi. I think it’s far from Messi, even if he is having a good season in the remaining matches. It will be difficult not to put Mbappé. Mbappé can win the Ballon d’Or while playing at PSG. There is that and the course in the Champions League. If there is an elimination, it will be complicated to have it”.

So far, Mbappé did not do better than 4^e in the Ballon d’Or standings. It was in 2018. Last year, during the coronation of his compatriot KB9, the crack of Bondynois finished only 6^e. But it was better than Messi, who wasn’t even one of the nominees. The French international also stands out for his consistency. He finished in the Top 10 five times despite being only 24 years old.

Note that this season, in terms of club statistics, Messi and Mbappé are almost equal. The Argentinian has 30 decisive gestures (16 goals and 4 assists), while the Frenchman 33 (27 + 6).