France Football snubs multiple Bayern Munich players (again) in Ballon d’Or top 30 list

France Football has announced their top 30 list (nominees for the Ballon d’Or), and the number of Bayern Munich players who have made it stands at a grand total of 1. Robert Lewandowski and that is it. There are quite a few players outside the obvious Ballon d’Or candidate (favourite, in my book) that are deserving of a berth in the top 30. They have been some of the best in the world in their positions, and France Football not recognizing them is downright disrespectful and disappointing.

Here’s the complete list of players that made it:

• Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
• Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG)
• Mason Mount (Chelsea FC)
• Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid)
• Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea FC)
• Simon Kjaer (AC Milan)
• Gerard Moreno (Villarreal)
• Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea FC)
• Harry Kane (Tottenham)
• Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan)
• Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
• Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
• Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)
• Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)
• Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
• Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
• Pedri (FC Barcelona)
• Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
• Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
• Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)
• Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
• Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
• Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
• Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
• N’Golo Kante (Chelsea FC)
• Jorginho (Chelsea FC)
• Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
• Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)

I would like to start by pointing out that Thomas Müller, Joshua Kimmich, and Leon Goretzka haven’t made this list. The world’s best no.6 hasn't made the list. One of the world’s best CAMs hasn’t made the list while Mason Mount, Bruno Fernandes and Gerard Moreno (who?) have. And if you’re pointing out that Müller didn’t win enough trophies, Fernandes and Moreno didn’t win a single trophy last season.

Photo by Matthias Hangst/Bongarts/Getty Images

Kimmich is the world’s best deep-lying playmaker. The stats don’t lie, and that is a fact. And yet, he has been conveniently omitted from a list where he should easily make the top 10. There are at least 22 players on that list that I rate less than Kimmich, and it’s really disheartening to see him being left out after being such a crucial player for both Bayern and Germany.

Leon Goretzka has been one of the best box-to-box midfielders out there for a while and has largely gone under the radar. Luka Modric made it and Goretzka didn’t. Let that sink in. There is no dual-pivot better than the Kimmetzka midfield, but as always, Bayern players will get snubbed. This has become a tradition; one that renders the award futile and worthless in my eyes.

Winning the Bundesliga is not a stroll in the park. After all, the club that wins the BuLi can comfortably spank any team across Europe when at full strength. And some of these midfielders have numbers that are some of the best in Europe. And yet, there are players on that list that deserve their spots far less than these players.

Now it’s only a matter of time before the award ceremony arrives and Lewandowski gets robbed for the second year running. I don’t think France Football will award him, regardless of how much he deserves it. I would love to see him get what he’s earned, but I suppose it would be stupid of anybody to expect anything fair from that organization.

Let them continue sleeping on Bayern players. It’s time for more trophies.