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What's the story?
Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has expressed his doubts over the possibility of Lionel Messi winning the 2019 Ballon d'Or after the Argentine's failure to guide Barcelona to the Champions League final.
In case you didn't know
Mourinho was initially convinced that Messi would win a record sixth Ballon d'Or after Cristiano Ronaldo crashed out of the Champions League following Juventus' quarter-final defeat to Ajax.
In an interview with Russia Today last month, the former Real Madrid manager said, "Messi is having a phenomenal season and, with Juventus and Cristiano Ronaldo out of this fight, he knows that the Ballon d'Or is there waiting for him."
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Messi was initially the overwhelming favourite to win the coveted Ballon d'Or owing to the scintillating season he enjoyed with Barcelona, where he scored 48 goals in all competitions.
The 31-year-old captained the Catalan giants to a second successive La Liga title, a Copa del Rey final and the semi-finals of the Champions League.
The Spanish champions' hopes of completing a treble were, however, dashed when they squandered their three-goal lead against Liverpool in the semi-finals of the Champions League and crashed out of the competition.
The heart of the matter
Mourinho has now backtracked on his previous prediction for the Ballon d'Or owing to recent circumstances. Speaking to RMC, the Portuguese manager revealed that he now doubts Messi's ability to win the award this year after yet another European disappointment.
He said (via GiveMeSport), "I have doubts that he deserves the Ballon d’Or this year because he failed in the Champions League."
The former Manchester United boss had previously called Messi "the God of Football" after his heroics in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
What's next?
While Messi's chances at winning the award have dipped lately, it cannot be denied that the Barcelona captain had a phenomenal individual season.
The La Liga champions are scheduled to face Eibar in the league on Sunday.
