Thomas Muller has sent a warning to Bayern Munich’s Champions League opponents after the Ballon d’Or awards ceremony.
The decision to hand Lionel Messi his record-breaking seventh Ballon d’Or has been controversial in some circules.
Messi may have won the Copa América and finished atop the La Liga scorer charts, but some believe Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski was more deserving.
That includes Lewandowski’s Bayern teammate Muller, who was not impressed with the Messi decision.
Lewandowski scored more than 40 goals last season, winning the Bundesliga title.
And while Muller is disappointed, he is keen for Bayern to make the most of the disappointment, and to use it to send a message to the rest of world of football.
“From a Bavarian, Polish and also from a German point of view, the presentation of the Ballon d’Or yesterday evening was definitely a disappointment,” he said on his LinkedIn profile.
“This is also a huge motivation for me to put everything into the balance in order to bring the Champions League back to Munich and to show the football world what is going on.
“And above all, what German football has to offer. We have the next opportunity to do so next Wednesday in the Champions League game against Barcelona. Let’s tackle it!”
Bayern are already through to the knockout stages of the Champions League, and they are many people’s favourites to win the competition.
They have already wrapped up top spot in the group and play Barcelona in their final game on Wednesday evening.
More must-reads: