17/12/2025
🗣️ Paolo Maldini on the Ballon d’Or & Lionel Messi:
“The Ballon d’Or looked for him.”
“When I see today’s Ballon d’Or nominees, they’re excellent players, of course — but the qualitative gap with what Messi offered is enormous. With him, it was never just numbers or trophies. It was his impact, the aesthetics, the control over the entire game. Messi could do in two months what others needed a whole season to accomplish.”
“We even criticized him for scoring only two goals, or for not producing magic in every match. That’s how spoiled we were — he made the impossible feel routine. Imagine today’s players competing in Messi’s era… the Ballon d’Or would’ve been an annual ceremony of handing it to him. Fifteen, sixteen times, maybe more. He redefined the standard every single year.”
“It’s not disrespect to this generation — it’s gratitude. We witnessed something football will never see again. Messi didn’t chase the Ballon d’Or… the Ballon d’Or chased him. Now the award looks for a champion, but it will never find another legend of that magnitude.”
“And honestly, I’m glad I retired early — defending against Messi every season would’ve been unbearable.” 🐐✨