UEFA Best Player In Europe 2012-13: Hoeness Says Ribery Better Than Ronaldo, Messi

Bayern Munich chief Uli Hoeness thinks that Franck Ribery is the runaway favorite to win the UEFA Player of the year award.

The Bayern Munich star is up against Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the prestigious award after leading the German squad to a treble season.

"There's really not a single reason for me not to give this trophy to Franck. He is the only legitimate winner," Hoeness said, according to Goal.com.

Regarding why he thinks that Ribery is better than Messi for the award, Hoeness said, "Messi and his Barcelona were comfortably beaten by Bayern in the Champions League." Munich took down Barcelona 7-0 over two legs in the Champions League semifinal.

However, Hoeness was even bolder when saying why Ribery should win over Ronaldo.

"Ronaldo is not even a rival for Franck in my opinion. I think Franck is clearly the better player of the two," he asserted. "If Franck does not win the award, it's a political decision."

Ribery has also been adamant that he deserves to win the award.

"I've dreamed about this title for a long time," Ribery said, according to the Malay Mail Online. "Last season I played really well and won huge titles. Why shouldn't I win it? I deserve it as much as the other two."

"Each has their own qualities. What [Messi and Ronaldo] do for sure better than me is score goals. They score more often than me, but I set up more goals [than them]," he added.

The award will be announced the morning of Thursday, Aug. 29 during the Champions League group stage drawing.