Barcelona have had a tough 12 months but at the Ballon d’Or ceremony, they still managed to come away with three individual awards.
Alexia Putellas won her second consecutive Ballon d’Or and Robert Lewandowski was given the Gerd Muller award for the best striker from last season. The most controversial award was the Kopa trophy, given to the best young player. After Pedri won it last season, he was chosen to hand the trophy over to Gavi this year.
Speaking in a press conference the next day, Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann felt that it was not a fair reflection, as quoted by Diario AS.
“Of course, you always have your club-tinted glasses on, but generally I also have my own opinion. I would have voted in a different way. In my opinion, Jamal [Musiala] and Jude Bellingham have had a better season than the winner. From my point of view, both are ahead of Gavi.”
He was keen to emphasize that this was not him trying to start a war of words, merely giving his opinion – perhaps a sign of growth in terms of media savvy from Nagelsmann.
“A great player with a lot of talent. It was not undeserved on his part. He has an extreme winning mentality for his age.”
He was not the only element of the Bayern contingent to voice his distaste at the results though, with Alphonso Davies weighing in on the matter.
Gavi will likely have a chance to prove his credentials against Musiala next week, as Bayern visit Camp Nou in the Champions League.