Ballon d'Or Power Ranking: January 2019

#1 Lionel Messi

Visibly frustrated by the fact that he ended up 5th in the Ballon d'Or race in 2018, Lionel Messi has come out swinging and is landing most of his punches, much to the delight of the Barcelona fanbase. Lionel Messi has a point to prove and we're ready to sit back and watch him do it because when the little magician hits his stride, there are few things more beautiful to watch unfold on a football ground.

Messi was in unbelievable form in December. He had 4 assists and 6 goals in the UEFA Champions League and LaLiga combined, from a grand total of 6 games (5 starts).

Messi was outstanding against Espanyol when he scored 2 goals and provided an assist. However, even that performance looked weak compared to what he did against Levante where he secured a hattrick and racked up 2 assists.

Several stars are going through a rough spell at Barcelona. However, Messi's stumps don't seem bothered at all.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Sripad