Angel Di Maria responds to Lothar Matthaus' claim that Lionel Messi's Ballon d'Or win was a farce

Angel Di Maria has ripped into Lothar Matthaus for his comments regarding Lionel Messi's Ballon d'Or win.

Messi took home the prestigious award for a record eighth time on Monday, cementing his legacy as perhaps the greatest player of all time.

But not everyone was approving of his victory, with former Germany midfielder Matthaus labelling it a "farce".

The 62-year-old, who previously won the Ballon d'Or in 1990, was left outraged by the decision, believing that Erling Haaland was robbed of the award.

Speaking to Sky Germany, Matthaus exclaimed: "Haaland has done better than Messi for the entire year.

"It's undeserved that Messi won. But that shows that a World Cup counts more than anything else.

"For me, Haaland is the best player of the last twelve months. He won major titles with Manchester City and broke goalscoring records in the process. For me, there is no way around Haaland. The choice is a farce, even though I am a Messi fan."

However, his comments have not gone down well with Messi's Argentina teammate Di Maria, who commented on an Instagram about the subject: "Go cry somewhere else," alongside a crying laughing emoji.

Haaland, meanwhile, was dignified in losing out to Messi, taking to social media to offer his congratulations.

During his acceptance speech, Messi was typically humble, claiming that Haaland deserved the award.

"Thanks to everyone, especially my teammates," the 36-year-old said. "Thank you to everyone who voted for me.

"This Ballon d'Or is a great gift for all of Argentina. I don't want to forget Haaland or Mbappé, who had a great year, spectacular, and in the coming years they will win this award.

"It's going to be a nice fight between the two of them and between several other younger players around here.

"They both deserved it this year. Erling, this could have been yours and it would have felt perfect."

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Topics: Angel Di Maria, Lionel Messi, Ballon d'Or, Football, Argentina

Joe Adams

Joe is a Journalist for SPORTbible with a primary focus on football. He has previously covered a number of other sports including boxing, rugby and F1. Wishes he was born left-footed.

@joeadamsjourno