Even the fact that the French League 1 is considered the weakest among Top 5 European leagues, and that the famous French Football is giving the prestigious Ballon d’Or award, doesn’t mean that the best footballer of the world – Lionel Messi, will have any credits when it comes to the team of the year. And he certainly didn’t. The famous Argentinian didn’t have the best season so far in Ligue 1, and he was omitted from the Team of the season. Instead, four of his teammates from PSG went into the team. And one Arsenal loanee – William Saliba. Kylian Mbappe signing for Real Madrid has been postponed – no deal before mid-MarchThe team has been compiled by the Football Observatory with players – who have played a minimum of 900 minutes – selected according to the CIES Performance Index powered by Opta data. According to them, in the 4-3-2-1 formation, players who deserved to be in the team of the year are: Omlin (Montpellier) – Hakimi (PSG), Saliba (Marseille), Kimpembe (PSG), Aguerd (Rennes) – Kamara (Marseille), Fofana (Lens), Gueye (PSG) – Faivre (Brest), Payet (Marseille) – Mbappe (PSG).’I’m Kenyan compared to PSG attackers’Unlike Ballon d’Or, which totally ignored Robert Lewandowski and gave the record seventh award to Messi, Football Observatory looked at the stats, and there were bad: He has found the net just once in Ligue 1 so far in his opening 10 matches in the division amid fears that he will fall short of 20 domestic league goals for the first campaign since 2007/08. Water is wet, the world is round and Lionel Messi wins Ballon D’Or – that’s number seven for the ArgentinePSG sporting director Leonardo gave an interview with Le JDD and Europe1, and of course, stated his admiration for the Argentinian, even thou he didn’t have such an impact in Ligue 1 (yet): “Leo Messi is indisputable for me. If you start arguing about Messi, you don’t know anything about football. His numbers in these months have been incredible. He and Mbappe have participated in almost all the club’s goals; he has been decisive. He has been playing the same way for 20 years. Things change when you have other players beside you in the team. But he is adaptable because he is a genius and the other geniuses have to adapt to him“ said Leonardo. Maybe he was looking at Messi’s goal in the Champions League – 5 in 6 matches for PSG so far, but in the Ligue 1, he has not found his form. Yet.
