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#1 Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d'Or on five occasions, although his last triumph came back in 2015. Since his last win, Messi has finished runner up twice, although the Barcelona forward last year slipped outside of the top three for the first time since 2007.
Messi has responded by starting 2019 in excellent form, only failing to score in three La Liga games since the turn of the year, hitting 12 league goals in the process. In addition to this, the Maestro further demonstrated his greatness with a stunning hat-trick against Sevilla, which took his tally of career trebles to 50.
Despite quickly approaching his 32nd birthday, there is also no doubting that Messi has been able to regain his crown as the best player in Spain following Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Juventus, and after a four-year wait, Messi currently looks to be the clear favourite to take home a record-breaking sixth trophy.
