Erling Haaland had a sensational campaign following his move to Manchester City last season. The striker smashed records one after another, following his move to the English side, helping them get their hands on a historic treble. However, his efforts were out-shadowed by Lionel Messi, who bagged the Ballon d’Or award on the back of the 2022 World Cup title. Messi has now won the men’s Balloon d’Or award a record eight times! 

In an interview, Haaland’s Manchester City teammate Bernardo Silva opened up on the reason behind La Pulga’s triumph over the Norwegian striker. What did he have to say?

Bernardo Silva opens up on Lionel Messi’s Ballon d’Or win over Erling Haaland

Manchester City star Bernardo Silva was present with ‘A Bola’ for an exclusive interview last weekend. During the interview, the midfielder touched down on multiple topics from his career, including the lack of individual titles. When Bernardo was asked about winning the Ballon d’Or award, the player stated that people usually look at stats, for these awards.

The Portuguese midfielder stated, “Without a doubt, today, when looking at individual trophies, people look a lot at statistics. Normally, the players who score the most goals.”

Silva added, “City wins the Champions League, and by chance it wasn’t Haaland because Messi won the World Cup, however, if it wasn’t Messi because of the World Cup, it would be Haaland who would win the Ballon d’Or. “

“Normally, scorers end up winning individual awards. If I agree, honestly? No. They can even win, because sometimes they can even be the most influential. Now, by criteria I don’t agree with this idea that only those who score goals should win the Ballon d’Or, but that’s how football works.”

Messi’s campaign was less spectacular than Haaland’s. He netted 21 goals in 41 games. Instead, Erling Haaland was the player who received the second-highest votes for the 2023 men’s Ballon d’Or trophy.

READ MORE: Erling Haaland Wins IFFHS World’s Best Player Award for 2023; Beats Lionel Messi & Kylian Mbappe by a Mile

Manchester City will look to bounce back in the Premier League as they travel to Goodison Park tonight. The side has slipped to fifth place in the Premier League standings and is eight points behind Liverpool in the title race.

Manchester City looks to find their way back into the Premier League title race!

Things have been quite bleak for the defending champions this season. Manchester City has had a string of subpar outings in the Premier League, which has seen them slip to the fifth place in the points table with 34 points from seventeen games. The side is currently eight points behind table-toppers, Liverpool.

However, Manchester City has played two fewer games than the Reds, allowing them to close the gap at the top of the table. The team will look to get things straight tonight as Pep Guardiola and his men travel to Goodison Park to take on Everton.

Do you think Manchester City has what it takes to win the Premier League title once again? Let us know in the comments below.

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