Ballon d'Or 2020: Robin van Persie omits Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo from his top three

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are arguably the two best players in the history of the beautiful game. The two enigmatic forwards have dominated world football for well over a decade and have monopolised the Ballon d'Or for the past several years.

In an interesting post on social media, former Arsenal striker Robin van Persie has claimed that neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi can stake a serious claim the prestigious Ballon d'Or award this year.

🥇@lewy_official 🥈@DeBruyneKev 🥉Sadio Mané https://t.co/MI41mpHVYD

— Robin van Persie (@Persie_Official) July 8, 2020

Robin van Persie has faced Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on several occasions in the past and has claimed that while the two are the best in the world, neither has a strong claim for the Ballon d'Or this year.

Lionel Messi is currently on top of both the goals and the assists chart in La Liga and is having a stellar individual season. Cristiano Ronaldo is also scoring regularly in the Serie A and is set to take Juventus to another title.

Also check out: Messi vs Ronaldo complete stats

Van Persie backs Lewandowski to win Ballon d'Or ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

Van Persie reveals his Ballon d'Or choices

Robin van Persie backed Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski to win the Ballon d'Or ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo this year. The Polish hitman has been in incredible form for the German giants and has won the Bundesliga and the German Cup this season.

Bayern Munich is also a favourite to win the UEFA Champions League and the title will out Lewandowski in pole position to beat Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to the Ballon d'Or.

Surprisingly, the Dutch great left both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo out of his top three contenders to win the Ballon d'Or and chose to go with Kevin De Bruyne and Sadio Mane instead.

Van Persie made surprising choices for the Ballon d'Or

Sadio Mane is a crucial cog in Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool juggernaut and is arguably one of the most important players in the side. The Senegalese forward is behind Mohamed Salah as far as statistics as are concerned but his importance to Liverpool cannot be understated.

Kevin De Bruyne is the best midfielder in the Premier League and is arguably one of the best players in the world at the moment. The Belgian midfielder has become Manchester City's talisman and should easily make the Ballon d'Or shortlist this year.

Robert Lewandowski moves to 5️⃣1️⃣ goals this season 🤯And he still has the Champions League to play 🥴Ballon d'Or incoming? 🏆 pic.twitter.com/2TqDEgkBh8

— Goal (@goal) July 4, 2020

Robert Lewandowski has broken several records this season and his incredible tally of 52 goals makes him the frontrunner for both the Golden Boot and the Ballon d'Or. Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have crossed the 30-goal mark this season but are unlikely to catch up with the lethal Polish striker.

The Ballon d'Or is set to be awarded later this year and it seems likely that neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo will be able to add to their stellar tally. Robert Lewandowski may well follow Luka Modric's example and wrest the prestigious award from the two modern-day legends of the game.

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Also check out: Messi vs Ronaldo head to head wins