3 Reasons why Lionel Messi should win the Ballon d'Or ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk

#1 Peerless dominance and consistency

The Argentine was miles and shoulders above the rest

Another factor that should give Lionel Messi the edge over Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk in the Ballon d'Or race this year is his incredible consistency and dominance. The Argentine was in a league of his own last season, producing extraordinary performances week in and week out throughout the campaign.

Messi finished with the highest number of man-of-the-match awards in the Champions League (7). He also did the same in the LaLiga (17). His return of 36 goals from 34 games earned him both the Pichichi Trophy and the European Golden Shoe. He bagged the highest tally in the UEFA Champions League (12) as well.

The playmaker had the most goals (51) and most assists (22) across all competitions. No one could match his goal contribution (73) for the term.

Messi topped the LaLiga in almost all the key attacking stats including number of chances created, number of braces, number of highest hat-tricks and number of free-kick goals scored, to mention just a few.

There's simply no one who did as much as Messi this year. Hence, after being honored with FIFA's The Best Award last month, the Argentine deserves to also go home with the Ballon d'Or accolade in December to cap off his fantastic 2019.