Former Barcelona defender Carlos Puyol believes Lionel Messi not winning the Ballon D’Or on Monday would be a “huge injustice”. The glamorous ceremony is supposed to take place in Zurich on the 11th of January.
Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo are the nominees for the most prestigious individual award in world football.
As the world awaits the announcement of the winner, Messi already seems to be the favourite. Puyol joined the long list of international football stars who have tipped the Argentine to win the prestigious award.
"You never know what might end up happening, but it would be a surprise and a huge injustice if Messi was not to win the Ballon d'Or,” Puyol said.
Barcelona won five trophies in 2015, and Messi has been instrumental in this victorious run as he himself netted 48 goals in one calendar year. Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Ballon d’Or on last two occasions after winning the award for the first time in 2008.
In 2015, he has scored an astounding 54 goals in 52 appearances. Yet despite his efforts Real Madrid failed to secure either the La Liga or the Champions League.
Neymar, being a part of the breath-taking trio alongside Messi and Suarez has found the net 43 times in 2015. He is 23 years of age but he is rather new in the circuit and does not pose much of a threat to the image of either Ronaldo or Messi, though he is perhaps the only player around who has the potential to match the level of the dynamic duo of contemporary times.
But one must also consider the fact that Messi has more number of assists that the other two. Messi has assisted 24 goals while Ronaldo and Neymar has assisted 14 and 13 goals respectively. This fact itself speaks volumes about Messi’s impact in the game as a whole.
Messi has already won the Ballon D’Or four times thus making him a record holder in that regard. If he manages to win it this time around then it will be the fifth time. Puyol also thinks that Messi will have more time to acquire more accolades in the future. He said,
"It will be hard for any other player in the future to win five Ballon d'Ors, and Messi is not going to retire tomorrow so even if he wins [his fifth title] on Monday he can even add more to his name.''
