In this world nothing can be said to be certain… Except for Lionel Messi being in the EA Sports Team of the Year. Or at least that was the case prior to FIFA 21 anyway!
The FIFA 21 TOTY has now been revealed, complete with a large number of the usual suspects. Manuel Neuer has been the selected in goal, the defence consists of Alphonso Davies, Sergio Ramos, Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and the midfield three selected this year is Joshua Kimmich, Kevin De Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes.
With this year’s vote there was no space in the team for the Argentinian magician though, apparently, with the attacking trio instead consisting of Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappé.
By his own standards, Lionel Messi hasn’t had the greatest of years, granted, and at the age of 33 he’s perhaps beginning to show some signs of slowing down and no longer quite being the absolute superstar of world football that he once was. Whilst both he and Barcelona might not be as good as they once were, however, Lionel Messi is still a phenomenal footballer and his omission from the FIFA 21 Team of the Year comes as quite a shock.
If we look at overall goal contributions in 2020; it paints quite an accurate picture of who belongs in this team, with Robert Lewandowski far ahead of the competition with 60 (45 goals and 15 assists), and Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo taking up the second and third spot respectively with Messi providing 50 contributions (26 goals and 24 assists) and Ronaldo 49 (41 goals and eight assists).Kylian Mbappe admittedly wasn’t too far off the pace, with 45 of his own (26 goals and 19 assists), but a definite question still remains as to whether or not he truly deserves his place in the team ahead of one of the greatest players to ever play the game.
How do you feel about Lionel Messi’s omission from the FIFA 21 Team of the Year? Was it justified in your opinion? Or does Lionel Messi decide his place in the spotlight alongside the likes of Crstiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section, and if you’re a big fan of sports games then you might just enjoy our videos on YouTube, too!
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
