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Lionel Messi became the first player to win the coveted Ballon d'Or award for the sixth time when he was awarded the best player of 2019 by French Football in Paris on 2nd December 2019. In the process, Messi overtook Cristiano Ronaldo for most Ballon d'Or triumphs by a player.
Messi who scored 55 goals for club and country in 2018-19, had the hand in most goals and assists during the calendar year by any 2019 Ballon d'Or nominee, scoring 44 goals and providing 19 assists in 51 games for club and country during the year.
You may also like: 5 players with the most Ballon d'Or awards.
The diminutive Argentinian's record-breaking 6th Ballon d'Or award meant that a player from the Spanish top-flight won the coveted award for the 11th consecutive year (Messi-6, Ronaldo-4, Luka Modric-1). This was Messi's first Ballon d'Or since winning his 5th in 2015.
Let us have a look at the top 5 moments of Messi's 6th Ballon d'Or winning year:
#1: Ties Telmo Zarra's mark of most Pichichi awards (top-scorer in a Liga season)
Messi's brace against Eibar on the last day of the 2018-19 season took the Argentine's LaLiga tally of the season to 36 goals in 34 games, as Barcelona won their fourth Spanish top-flight title in 5 seasons.
In the process, the club captain equalled Telmo Zarra's long-standing record of most Pichichi awards (6) for most goals in a LaLiga season, as Messi ended a third consecutive season atop the scoring charts in the Spanish top-flight.
Messi won his first Pichichi award in 2009-10 by scoring 34 goals, followed by a record 50 goals in 2011-12, and 46 goals in the following season. Four years later, the diminutive Argentine scored 37 goals in 2016-17 to win his 4th Pichichi, another one the next season when he scored 34 goals, before equalling Zarra's record at the end of the 2018-19 season.
Also read: Top 4 2019 Ballon d'Or performers of November 2019.
#2: First player to score in 16 consecutive seasons in the La Liga
Following an inury-ravaged start to the season which saw the Argentina captain miss the first 4 games of the 2019-20 Liga season, Lionel Messi scored in Barcelona's 4-0 home win over Sevilla to become the first player in the Spanish top-flight to score in 16 consecutive seasons.
Messi is the all-time top-scorer in the LaLiga, with 428 goals, and has been been the top-scorer of a LaLiga season on six occasions, which includes the last three seasons. The diminutive Argentine holds the record for most goals in a LaLiga season, when he scored 50 in the 2011-12 season.
#3: First player to score in 15 consecutive Champions League seasons
Messi became the first player to score in 15 consecutive seasons in the UEFA Champions League when the Barcelona captain opened the scoring for his club in a 2-1 win at Slavia Praha on Matchday 3.
His 114 goals in the competition is only behind Cristiano Ronaldo's tally of 127 goals, in the competition's list of all-time top-scorers.
#4: Equals Cristiano Ronaldo's record of most La Liga hat-tricks
Scoring in his sixth consecutive Liga game, Messi's hat-trick in Barcelona's 4-0 home win over Celta Vigo was a landmark one. It brought the Argentine magician level with Cristiano Ronaldo's record of 34 LaLiga hat-tricks.
Since scoring his first LaLiga hat-trick against Real Madrid in the 2006-07 season, Messi has since had three (or more) goal hauls agains 18 other LaLiga oppositions. The Barcelona captain has scored most of his Liga hat-tricks (3) against the quartet of Valencia, Osasuna, Espanyol, and Deportivo La Coruna.
#5: First player to score against 34 different opponents in the Champions League
In his 700th game for his club, Lionel Messi's goal in Barcelona's 2-1 home win over Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 5 of the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League made him the first player to score against 34 different opponent teams in the competition. In the process, Messi broke a tie shared with Raul and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi's 9 goals against Arsenal is the most he has scored against an opponent in the Champions League.
