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With five Ballon d'Or wins, Lionel Messi is the joint-most decorated player in the history of football's most prestigious award, tied on that number with his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
Having become the first player in history to win four consecutive Ballon d'Ors between 2009 and 2012, the Argentine maestro has hit something of a rough patch since then, with his triumph in 2015 being all he can boast of in the last five years.
The 2018/2019 season was a bittersweet one for Messi, as despite winning La Liga and extending his record-breaking European Golden Shoe wins to six, there was still disappointment in the one trophy he set out to win as Barcelona were unceremoniously dumped out of the Champions League by Liverpool, while his international trophy drought also continued as Argentina faltered in the Copa America.
Last year saw Messi suffer the ignominy of being left off the top three in the Ballon d'Or final standing, having made it to the top two in each of the preceding ten years and this is a scenario which might play out again this year.
While it might seem a tad preposterous to suggest that Lionel Messi should not make it into the top three of the 2019 Ballon d'Or voting, there are some factors which makes this viewpoint hold water.
In this piece, we shall be highlighting the reasons why Lionel Messi could potentially not make it to the podium of the 2019 Ballon d'Or.
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#3 His humiliating elimination from the Champions League
It is well known that Barcelona have not won the Champions League since defeating Juventus 3-1 in Berlin in 2015 an at the start of last season, in his first speech as Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi stated that it was his mission to being Europe's premier club competition back to Camp Nou.
He started well enough, scoring six goals from just four group stage matches to help the Catalans top their group with ease.
Further inspiration followed in the knockout rounds followed as Barcelona dismantled first Lyon and then Manchester United, with Lionel Messi scoring a brace in both rounds to set up a semifinal fixture with Liverpool.
Another brace (one of which was voted the Champions League goal of the tournament) followed as Barcelona tore Liverpool apart with a 3-0 scoreline at Camp Nou to all but guarantee their spot in the final.
However, on an atmospheric night at Anfield, The Reds produce one of the all-time great Champions League displays to overturn the deficit before going on to defeat Tottenham in the final at Madrid.
Though Lionel Messi still led the charts in terms of goals scored with 12, the fact that he was quite unable to guide Barcelona all the way as promised is a major blot on his performance and serves as a detractor in his Ballon d'Or bid.
#2 His no-show at the Copa America
With 34 major trophies won, Lionel Messi is among the most decorated players in history, but a cursory look at his trophy haul would reveal the rather disappointing fact that all of his honours have come with Barcelona.
For all of his best efforts and quality of teammates he has had over the years, the Rosario native is yet to win a major international title, with his only honours with Argentina coming at Under 20 and Olympic levels.
In his time with the Albiceleste, Messi has lost four major finals, prolonging Argentina's wait for a major trophy which has now stretched to 28 years.
The 2019 Copa America offered another shot at international glory, but it once more ended in disappointment as Lionel Messi and co. got dumped out at the semifinal stage, having to settle for third place instead.
Over the years, one of the major reasons given for Argentina's struggles at tournaments has been the underperformance of Messi's teammates as he always stepped up to the plate only to be undone by sub-par displays by his colleagues.
However, this time around the reverse happened to be the case as Messi proved to be nothing more than a passenger, standing idly by as players like Leandro Paredes and Lautaro Martinez stepped up to the plate in his stead.
In total, Messi scored just one goal (from the penalty spot) and registered just one assist from six matches and this is a ridiculously poor return from a player of his standing, while he ended his tournament with a red card and the possibility of a two-year ban for accusing CONMEBOL of corruption.
Having failed to inspire Barcelona to glory on the continental stage, Lionel Messi also faltered badly on the international scene and as such is not deserving of a top-three finish in the 2019 Ballon d'Or.
#1 There are players more deserving than him
Over the last decade or thereabout, Lionel Messi has played his way into being considered arguably the best player to ever play the game of football.
In that time, his performance levels have been so far ahead of everyone else that the only player deserving to be named in the same breath as him was Cristiano Ronaldo.
If the Ballon d'Or were to be given on career performances, then Lionel Messi would probably win it every year. However, it is awarded to the player adjudged to have been the best player in the period under review.
While Messi might have outperformed everyone by a distance domestically last season, it is when you begin to factor in performances against other players in overall competition that his case looks less solid.
For starters, Virgil Van Dijk has been earmarked by many as the most deserving of the price and justifiably so, as the 28-year-old has been nothing short of phenomenal since Liverpool broke the bank to make him the most expensive defender in history.
The former Southampton man was instrumental in transforming Liverpool's defence from shaky and laughing stock into an impenetrable fortress, helping them concede the least number of goals in the Premier League while playing a huge role as The Reds won Champions League trophy and also captained his side to the final of the first-ever UEFA Nations League.
When you add in the fact that he did all this without being dribbled past in over 60 matches despite coming up against virtually all the world-class forwards currently in the world then you realize just how impressive he was over the last year.
If Van Dijk was instrumental in turning around Liverpool's defensive woes, then Alisson was the missing link in the jigsaw puzzle, as the 27-year-old brought an instant solution to what has been a problematic area for Liverpool since Pepe Reina departed.
Nowhere was this more evident than in the Champions League final against Tottenham where the Brazilian international made a joint-record eight saves to help Liverpool to the trophy. Contrast this to Lorius Karius' howlers last year to realize how important Alisson is to Liverpool.
On the international scene, 'the Messi of goalkeepers' also shone to help Brazil to a ninth Copa America title on home soil, while also winning the Golden Glove while he was at it (the third he won in the last few months).
No Ballon d'Or discussion is complete without the mention of Ronaldo or no dialogue about Messi for that matter, as like the Argentine, the Portuguese icon has stamped his authority on the beautiful game.
Despite moving to a new league, Ronaldo still conquered, setting several records to help Juventus to an eighth consecutive Serie A title.
It can be argued that the Bianconerri did not need the services of Ronaldo to win the Scudetto and rightly so, as the Turin giants are so far ahead of the competition in Italy that they would win the title every season at a canter with or without their most expensive signing.
It is for his Champions League prowess which he was signed and many would say that he failed, but it was not for his want of trying, as Ronaldo discharged his duties in front of goal in the knockout stages with distinction (same as Messi) but was let down by his teammates.
On a comparative level with Messi, Ronaldo is dwarfed in league performance, as Lionel Messi significantly outperformed him in the league although they both won their league titles.
The same can be said of their performance in the Champions League. However, Messi's failure to go all the way renders this point moot. They each failed to inspire their side to domestic cup glory and ended the season with the same trophies: the League and domestic Super Cup.
Ronaldo's significant advantage comes on the international scene, as while Messi struggled with Argentina, he was the star of the show with a scintillating hattrick display in the semifinal of the UEFA Nations League against Switzerland to power his nation to the final on home soil where they ultimately prevailed against the Netherlands for their second trophy in the last three years.
Each of Cristiano Ronaldo, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker can significantly claim to have outperformed Lionel Messi in all competitions and as such are more deserving of a Ballon d'Or podium finish.
