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Cristiano Ronaldo successfully retained his Ballon d'Or crown in 2017, polling 946 points, while Lionel Messi (670), and Neymar (371) completed the podium. The Portuguese international had played a key role in helping Real Madrid to a 12th Champions League crown and 33rd LaLiga title.
The triumph saw him draw level with Messi as the players with the most Ballon d'Or wins in history (five apiece) and while taking nothing away from Cristiano Ronaldo who was a worthy winner of the 2017 Ballon d'Or, it is pertinent to note that Messi was also a deserving winner.
Here, in continuation of our series highlighting players who deserved to win the Ballon d'Or between 2008 and 2018, we shall be making a case or why Messi could have won the 2017 Ballon d'Or in Ronaldo's stead.
The 2017 Ballon d'Or winner: Cristiano Ronaldo
Real Madrid became the first side to win back-to-back Champions League trophies in the modern era when they defeated Juventus in the final at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff and once again, Ronaldo was an integral part of their record-breaking campaign.
The Portuguese international scored 12 goals - including two in the final - and assisted a further five times from 13 matches as Los Blancos won their 12th European crown.
Domestically, the Madeira native was also instrumental and was involved in 31 direct goals to help Zinedine Zidane's men to their first league title since 2011, with his total contribution in front of goal reading 42 goals and 11 assists from 46 matches in all competitions.
In the Confederations Cup in Russia over the summer, Ronaldo stepped up to the plate, delivering man-of-the-match performances in all three of Portugal's group stage fixtures as they made it the way to the semi-finals.
The case for Lionel Messi to have won the 2017 Ballon d'Or
As far as collective performances go, the 2016/2017 campaign was largely one to forget for Barcelona, as they faltered in the defence of the league crown, while they were also knocked out of the Champions League in embarrassing fashion to Juventus in the quarter-final.
Their only succour came in the Copa del Rey, where they defeated Alaves in the final to win what was the second of four consecutive titles.
Nevertheless, on a personal level, the campaign was hugely successful for Lionel Messi, as he finished the season with 54 goals and 16 assists from just 52 games, with 37 of his goals coming in the league and this saw him win the European Golden Shoe for the fourth time in his career.
On the continent, Messi made an explosive start to the Champions League campaign, scoring 10 goals in the group stage as Barcelona comfortably topped a group also containing Borussia Monchengladbach, Celtic and Manchester City.
He, however, failed to keep the tempo and scored just one goal in Barcelona's four knockout fixtures as they got dumped out by Juventus.
In the Copa del Rey, the Rosario native contributed five goals from six matches including scoring one and assisting another in the 3-1 victory over CD Alaves in the final at the Vicente Calderon in Madrid.
Though Ronaldo has more team success than Messi in 2017, the Ballon d'Or rewards individual performance and on the overall balance of play, Messi had a more successful individual campaign than his Portuguese rival.
Ronaldo's importance to Real Madrid's Champions League triumph in 2017 cannot be overemphasized, with his performances in the knockout rounds standing out, but beyond the Champions League, he did not have as much impact as Messi.
His contribution to Los Blancos' league triumph was subdued, as Zinedine Zidane increasingly rested Ronaldo in a bid to preserve his freshness on two fronts.
In total, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner missed nine games in the regular LaLiga season, while he completed the full 90 minutes on just 24 occasions.
Ronaldo was a worthy winner of the 2017 Ballon d'Or, but Messi could also have won it in his stead.
