Lionel Messi has once again been shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or award which will be held on the 9th of January next year. This is the 10th successive year in which he has been nominated for the award.
It’s incredible how he and Cristiano Ronaldo have been able to keep up this level of performance for so long. There haven’t been too many players or even rivalries in the past like this one and there seems to be no end to the brilliance of both these players.
Also Read : 5 reasons Cristiano Ronaldo should win the Ballon d’Or
Ronaldo is considered favorite to win this time but Messi could run him a close race. In terms of achievements, maybe the Portuguese is slightly ahead but here are five reasons why Messi has a strong case for the Ballon d’Or this year
5) The numbers behind his performances
For many years, several football records remained intact and their respective holders were comfortable and quietly confident their records will not be broken. But not many predicted one Lionel Messi would go on to break most of them.
The Argentine has broken several of these records that were once considered impossible to match. His records obviously haven't been for nothing. Barcelona have benefitted immensely from Messi’s magical feats.
Messi might not have topped the scoring charts last season but once again topped the table in La Liga for most assists in the league. Luis Suarez who ended up as top scorer for the Catalans was the beneficiary of Messi’s generosity.
He managed 16 assists last campaign, the next highest being Koke with 14 followed by Neymar with 12 and Cristiano Ronaldo with 11. Messi also lifted the Copa Del Rey with Barcelona managing to become top scorer and bag the most assists as well for the tournament.
4) Leading Argentina to the Copa America final
Many would consider not winning the Copa Centenario as a failure in Messi’s career, but there is another way of looking at it. The little maestro missed the first few games for his country but played an important role in taking them to the final.
Most of the opponents were blown away by a very dominant Argentina team. In the group stages, they were drawn with Chile the holders of the competition, the team that famously beaten them in the final a year ago.
But thanks to Angel Di Maria Argentina won that game claiming revenge in some form. Argentina cruised to the final sweeping aside their opponents each step of the way and were drawn once again Chile in the final.
A Claudio Bravo inspired performance forced the game into the extra time and then penalties. It was once again the Manchester City keeper who produced the heroics to help deny Argentina for the second time in a row.
Messi still managed to bag 5 goals and 5 assists falling just one short of eventual golden ball winner Eduardo Vargas. He was heartbroken and was ready to give up on international football.
But new coach Edgardo Bauza flew down to Barcelona to convince him out of retirement and once again he’s at the forefront of the national team.It might a tough loss to take but after so many years Argentina have begun to dominate the international scene at least in terms of appearances in finals if not trophies and a lot of that is down to Messi.
3) His incredible scoring record
Cristiano Ronaldo might be the king of goalscoring at the moment but Messi is not too far behind in that category. Messi managed 26 goals in La Liga alone last season and scored 41 in 49 appearances across all competitions
Ronaldo on the other hand, managed 51 in 48 appearances but their records are not too dissimilar. Considering Messi also missed two months of action last season due to injury he could have even scored more than his Real Madrid counterpart.
But Messi’s game last season was not just about goals as he created several chances for his teammates as well. The Barcelona trident of Messi Suarez and Neymar managed to net 131 goals altogether.
Messi was responsible for assisting 26 of Barcelona's goals last season in all competitions so in total 67 goals were a resultant of him directly. Ronaldo was directly involved in 66 goals in all competitions, which makes this comparison reasonable.
This season Messi has kept up his incredible scoring record with 8 goals so far in La Liga. In all, he has 16 goals and 8 assists so far for the campaign.
2) Barcelona’s domestic double
Barcelona continued their incredible dominance in the Spanish game last season by winning both the La Liga and the Copa del Rey under Luis Enrique. This was their 6th title win in the last 8 seasons.
Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid only managed to win one each in that time period which is remarkable. Lionel Messi is without a doubt the most important signing in Barcelona’s history considering the amount of success he has brought them ever since he began playing for the first team.
The MSN trio showed what they are capable of in the treble winning season of 2014/15 and their extraordinary scoring feat continued into the 2015/16 season. After halfway through the campaign, it looked like they would walk away with the trophy.
But somehow a mini-slump towards the end of the season meant Barcelona had to ensure they won all their remaining games to stay top of the league until the very end.
Messi was very important to Barcelona’s resurgence at the back end of last season and it might have turned out very differently if he did not kick into form at the right time The same goes for his contribution in the Copa Del Rey as well with Messi leading the scoring and assisting charts.
1) The consistency in 2016
If there is one thing Messi probably has over Ronaldo this year is his consistency of performances over the whole of 2016 Ronaldo has dipped in his form at the start of this campaign and hasn’t been near his best so far.
Messi has gone past his rival this season in terms of numbers, with some scintillating performances, the latest of which came against Sevilla on Sunday. Barcelona were absolutely shabby and trailed 1-0 until the 43rd minute of the game.
Enter Lionel Messi. The 29-year-old decided to run the game himself as he started to drop deeper and deeper to try and influence the game more and was rewarded for his determination with a goal from a move he started in Barcelona’s half.
Sevilla were clueless as to how to stop him but then again not many have been able to crack that code in the past. But it is not just this game but every other game he has played this year. Barcelona have always been reliant on Messi because of his consistency and the way he can affect a game and change it in an instant.
There's no doubt Ronaldo is on that very same level but Messi has been more regular in that particular aspect over the calendar year and probably merits a genuine chance of winning the award on that alone.
