Exclusive: Bastian Schweinsteiger names two players who should have won Ballon d'Or during Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dominance
Bastian Schweinsteiger believes two of his former teammates were the most unfortunate to miss out on the Ballon d'Or during their careers due to the dominance of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Debate surrounds who will take this year's crown following PSG's 5-0 demolition in the Champions League final, with Ousmane Dembele installed as the favourite to win the award after his starring role in the French side's inaugural European Cup win.
Schweinsteiger was part of a Bayern Munich side who reached three Champions League finals in four years between 2010 and 2013, with the Bavarians eventually getting their hands on the trophy once more with a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund after defeats to Inter Milan and Chelsea.
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He then went on to lift the World Cup with Germany following a 1-0 success over Argentina in 2014.
And the former Bayern midfielder believes two players he played alongside - one at club level and one for both club and country - should have got their hands on the Ballon d'Or during a period when either Ronaldo or Messi won for 10 consecutive seasons.
“I am German so we actually had a very good national team between 2005 and 2016 during my period, reaching every year the semi-final at least," he told SPORTbible ahead of the Champions League final, as part of Heineken's Cheers to the Superstitious Fans campaign.
"With Bayern Munich we played three times in four years the final so especially I think in 2013, Franck Ribery deserved to win the Ballon d’Or or even - at the end of the day I know it goes to players who score the goals - Manuel Neuer.
"He was outstanding in my eyes and he should also have won."
Ribery and Neuer both came third respectively in the 2013 and 2014 votes, with Ronaldo pipping Messi to the crown on both occasions and the Frenchman was quoted in the build-up to the latter award as saying Neuer would have been a worthy winner 11 years ago.
"What can I say? For me, Manuel Neuer or Arjen Robben have to win it, there are only two views," he told Bild, via Sky Sports.
"Manu has won everything, is a good person, not arrogant. Arjen played an unbelievable last Bundesliga season and after that an excellent World Cup. But I fear that there is still a lot of politics.
"The Golden Ball for the best player? I don't believe that any more. In 2006 (Italy defender Fabio) Cannavaro won - because he was world champion, that's all."
Still, while Neuer and Ribery may consider themselves unlucky for their failure to win the Ballon d'Or, nothing quite compares to Inter Milan fan Marco Simeone, whose decision to avoid watching his side in last weekend's Champions League final stems from his belief that he is a jinx to the club he supports.
Marco was sent to a purpose-built bar in a remote outpost of Germany to keep him as far as possible away from the action having become known among his friends for his extraordinary run of bad luck, claiming his team loses every time he’s in the stadium.
And while Schweinsteiger's superstitions may never be quite as drastic, the Champions League and World Cup winner can relate to fans who insist on sticking to routine around games.
“It’s a really funny story when I heard about it," he said.
"He is a die-hard Inter Milan supporter, I hope it works out for him.
"There are so many who have these kinds of things. I have so many of my friends who, whenever Bayern Munich were playing, they had a certain thing to do before the match but most of them were watching the match!”
As part of its Cheers to the Superstitious Fans campaign, Heineken® sent a self-confessed 'Inter Milan jinx' to a remote bar in Germany. Even that wasn’t enough to change PSG’s fate-sealing five-goal triumph.
Topics: Ballon d'Or, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Bayern Munich, Manuel Neuer, Franck Ribery, Man Utd
Tom Marshall-Bailey