4 reasons why Lionel Messi deserves the 2018 Ballon d'Or award

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi was omitted from the UEFA Awards final shortlist, and the same was repeated when football's governing body FIFA released their list of final contenders for the Player Of The Year Awards recently - prompting a lot of angry reactions from many who stood in defense of the Argentine superstar.

While a lot has been said to justify his omission from these honors, there has been no concrete excuse to back it up as long as individual performances and team achievements are concerned because the playmaker was arguably the best player in the world during the year, and he succeeded in outscoring every attacker in Europe last season, not to mention that he even led Barcelona to claim a couple of trophies during the campaign.

Having missed out on both the UEFA and FIFA Player Of The Year awards, the Ballon d'Or honor represents Lionel Messi's only chance to claim a major accolade before the end of the year, and below are 4 reasons why the Argentine deserves to be named the Best Player in the world once again.

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#4 Extraordinary performances

Messi put up a great showing during the previous campaign

The football world had a taste of Lionel Messi's ruthlessness in front of goal once again last season, and opposition goalkeepers are in the best position to narrate how much the little genius tormented them throughout the campaign.

The Barcelona maestro was at an unmatchable level during the term, tearing opposition defenses apart, scoring unbelievable goals and making victory look routine with his spectacular talent.

He ended up outscoring every attacker in both LaLiga and across all European leagues with his 34 goals in 36 appearances - claiming both the Pichichi trophy, and the European Golden Boot for his incredible goal scoring exploits.

He finished the term with a whopping 44 goals and 18 assists for Barcelona across all competitions and became the first footballer to score 40+ goals in 10 successive years. What a season he had!

All stats via transfermarkt

#3 Domestic success

The attacker helped Barcelona to claim an impressive domestic double during the campaign

It is quite easy to spot that Lionel Messi was the most influential superstar domestically across all the major European leagues last season, running riot in the Spanish top flight and showing his incredible talent for the world to see once again.

The Argentine was at an unimaginable level in LaLiga during the term, bagging an incredible 34 goals and 12 assists in 36 appearances, as well as recording a massive 4 goals and 4 assists to his name in the Copa Del Rey.

He also led Barcelona to claim both trophies, to summarise another successful campaign for the Catalan giants at the domestic level, as well as reminding everyone that he is still the man to beat in the Spanish elite division.

#2 Consistency

The Argentine was without doubt the most consistent performer in Europe during the campaign

When it comes to consistency, Lionel Messi was in a league of his own throughout last season, helping Barcelona overturn a very difficult start to the campaign, and restoring the club's status as one of the most feared outfits on European soil.

The attacker maintained an unbelievable level of performance from the beginning of the term down to the end, scoring week-in and week-out to ensure that Barcelona had another successful campaign - marked by two impressive trophies at the Nou Camp.

Messi was so consistent that he never went 3 matches without scoring for La Blaugrana during the term, and he ensured that he turned up in the biggest games, scoring against the likes of Real Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, and Juventus.

#1 Brilliant start to the new campaign

Messi has also entered into the new season in electrifying form

Lionel Messi has come all out once again to surprise everyone, and this time he has done that with his electrifying start to the new campaign - putting up a couple of spectacular displays that define his pure class and incredible talent.

The Argentine is on a mission in the UEFA Champions League this season, having begun the European tournament in unbelievable form - scoring a fantastic hat-trick against PSV Eindhoven in Barcelona's opening fixture, and following it up with an impressive brace against Tottenham Hotspur last week.

He is currently leading the goal scoring chart in the European tournament, with an incredible 5 goals to his name, and he has also made a brilliant start to the LaLiga campaign, scoring 6 times, and setting up a further 4 to establish Barcelona in second position on the table. Such a brilliant start must not be overlooked in the Ballon d'Or race.