Football fans took to social media to slam FIFA 21's player ratings after the popular video game placed Lionel Messi as the highest-rated for the upcoming edition.
The Argentine, whose Barcelona team failed to win a trophy last season, was given a rating of 93 by EA Sports, with Cristiano Ronaldo one lower on 92 as both stars were rated higher than Champions League winner Robert Lewandowski who had an exceptional season for Bayern Munich but was rated at 91.
Messi and Ronaldo have shared the accolade of being world's best players for many years but many felt Lewandowski outperformed the pair in 2019-20, scoring an incredible 55 goals in all competitions on his way to securing the treble with the Bavarians.
The statistics released by the much-loved video game are often a key source of debate for fans over who should be regarded as the world's best players.
Several fans referred to Lewandowski's Bayern's 8-2 drubbing of Messi's Barcelona as a reason why the Polish striker should have been ahead of him in the latest issue.
'Messi is the highest rated player in FIFA 21. Just reminding you his team went trophyless and their last match was 8-2', was the opinion of @drFateTT after the much-anticipated ratings were released on social media.
Fans also took aim at Ronaldo coming in at the higher ranking with @iLatif writing 'Ronaldo did nothing apart from scoring penalties last season but EA sports decided to give him a higher rating on than Lewandowski who was supposed to win Balon D’or'.
@apolosolicandrew agreed, saying 'Argument should've been about Ronaldo being above Lewandowski'
Messi still managed an impressive 31 goals and 26 assists last campaign but his side spent much of the season in crisis after surrendering their La Liga lead to rivals ReaL Madrid before their quarter-final humiliation in Europe.
Ronaldo also managed a more-than-impressive 37 goals and seven assists as the 35-year-old helped Juventus lift the Serie A title last season.
Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne - the highest Premier League player - plus Neymar of Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak, are all next in the pecking order with a 91 rating in FIFA 21.
Liverpool's title-winning defender Virgil van Dijk, plus his club-mates Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, have 90 ratings on the game, as does cover star Kylian Mbappe of PSG and France.
The game is set to be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows on October 9.