Lionel Messi For Ballon d’Or Award 2019: 3 Reasons Why Barcelona Forward Should Win His Sixth Golden Ball

The 2019 Ballon d’Or winner will be announced on Monday (December 2) by France Football at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris and Lionel Messi is once again the favourite to win this award for a record sixth time. Ballon d’Or is the most prestigious individual award in the footballing world and is awarded to the best performer over the course of the entire year. Luka Modric won the trophy last year, becoming the first person in a decade other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to be crowned as the best player in the world. With this award, the Croatian etched his name as one of the greatest players ever to play this wonderful game. As the award is set to be announced on the coming Monday, we look at three reasons why Lionel Messi should win the Ballon d’Or. Lionel Messi and Megan Rapinoe Expected to Take Ballon d’Or Honours.

Lionel Messi is being tipped to win his sixth Ballon d’Or according to many emerging reports from Spain. Virgil van Dijk appears to be his closest competition as the Dutch defenders Liverpool defeated Messi’s Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals on their way of becoming European Champions. However, the Argentine finished last season as La Liga’s highest goal scorer and highest assist provider and was instrumental in the Catalan side’s domestic title success. Barcelona fell short in the Champions League and the Copa Del Rey but Messi’s tally of 51 goals last season cannot be overlooked and that makes him one of the top contenders to take home the prestigious award. The Argentine is the favourite to win the 2019 Golden Ball and here are three reasons why. Cristiano Ronaldo Over Lionel Messi For 2019 Ballon d'Or? Former Chelsea Boss Backs Portuguese Superstar.

Domestic Dominance

Lionel Messi was untouchable in La Liga last season as the forward finished with 36 goals, fifteen ahead of his closest competitors Karim Benzema and Luis Suarez. The Argentine was also the joint-highest assist provider in Spain’s top division last season with 13 assists to his name. Along with being the highest goal-scorer and assist provider, Messi had also created more chances and completed more dribbles than any other player in La Liga. No other player in World Football has dominated their domestic league as much as Messi has and this makes him a strong contender.

Un-Worldly Statistics

The year did not yield many trophies for Lionel Messi as he only won the La Liga title but one cannot overlook the fact that the Argentine had a spectacular season on an individual basis. In 2018-19 the forward scored 51 goals and gave 22 assists. He was awarded with the golden boot trophy for scoring the most number of goals in Europe’s top leagues and also finished as the Champions League top scorer. After missing the opening two months of this season through injury, Messi has continued where he left off last season and has scored eight goals in eight Barcelona appearances.

FIFA Best Player

Lionel Messi’s outstanding start to 2019 made him the overwhelming favourite to win the Ballon d’Or but a Champions League loss to Vigil van Dijk’s Liverpool made the race even more exciting. The Argentine had a tough end to the season as he missed out on a chance to win the treble with Barcelona. However, much too everyone’s surprise, FIFA selected the Barcelona forward as their Men's Player of the Year and Messi’s stock rose rapidly. The other factor that strengthens the Argentine’s claim to win the Ballon d’Or is that the FIFA Award winner has gone on to win both the honours.

Lionel Messi was left out from the podium finish by France Football during last year’s award as the Barcelona superstar finished fifth behind Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric. However, an extraordinary 2019 has proved his doubters wrong, as there were doubts over the little magician losing his magic touch. Leo Messi, this year has been miles ahead of any other player in the world and it would be confirmed once he wins his sixth Ballon d’Or on Monday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 01, 2019 06:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).