5 reasons why Lionel Messi deserved the 2017 Ballon d'Or over Cristiano Ronaldo

It's that time of the year again - when football takes a backseat and the perennial argument over which of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo was the better player of the year takes place.

There was a Ballon d'Or to win after all, and with Ronaldo having gone level with Messi's 5 Ballons d'Or, plenty of ink has been spilt about the Portuguese star's talents.

However, Lionel Messi has arguably been the better of the pair, and here are 5 reasons why:

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#1 More goals

Lionel Messi has made plenty of adaptations to his game in 2017 - to accommodate for Andres Iniesta's decline and coupled with Barcelona's awful transfer strategy in 2016, the Argentine has dropped deep - playing most of Barcelona's games from midfield.

Halfway through the year, Messi lost the teammate who provided him with most of his goals (Neymar) and then had to deal with Luis Suarez suffering his worst dip in form - coupled with dealing with the vastly different instructions of 4 different managers for club and country.

All of that and Leo Messi has outscored Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017.

The Argentine wizard has scored 52 goals in 2017, while Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 48 goals. However, it is important to note that 11 of Ronaldo's 48 calendar goals have come in 11 appearances for Portugal, while Messi has scored 4 goals in 7 appearances for a woeful Argentina.

Quite simply, when Leo Messi has outscored his nemesis in a year when Ronaldo played far more centrally and when the Argentinian himself has played from a deep midfield position, who else deserves the Ballon d'Or?

#2 More assists

To go from MSN to this...

Even in his best, most productive seasons in La Liga, Cristiano Ronaldo has never out-assisted Lionel Messi. Here’s the proof:

2009/10: Messi = 12, Ronaldo = 8

2010/11: Messi = 29, Ronaldo = 17

2011/12: Messi = 33, Ronaldo = 16

2012/13: Messi = 18, Ronaldo = 15

2013/14: Messi = 16, Ronaldo = 14

2014/15: Messi = 32, Ronaldo = 22

2015/16: Messi = 27, Ronaldo = 17

2016/17: Messi = 19, Ronaldo = 13

The simple fact is that no one would argue that Lionel Messi is the more selfish player of the pair, while the reverse has plenty of justification. However, that does Cristiano Ronaldo a bit of an injustice, since the Portuguese star has been far more altruistic in 2017.

For the calendar year of 2017, Leo Messi has 14 assists, while Cristiano Ronaldo has 13 assists. What's interesting though, is that Messi has made all off his 14 assists while wearing the Blaugrana shirt, while 4 of Ronaldo's 13 assists have come for Portugal.

Glean from that what you will, but bear in mind that Lionel Messi ended the calendar year with Dario Benedetto as the striker for the Albiceleste.

Despite the fact that Leo Messi has had to deal with the shadow of Luis Suarez and Paco Alcacer leading the line for Barcelona, it remains impressive that he has managed to rack up 14 assists - with Neymar also leaving midway through 2017.

#3 Consistency

Mr. Consistent

Much has been made about the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo was pivotal in Real Madrid’s historic double last season. However, the truth is that the Portuguese superstar was mediocre for much of the season and only came to life in the months of March, April and May.

Yes, trophies are handed out in May and that’s what counts. Then why bother with making the Ballon d’Or consider an annual calendar year? Why not hand out the award in May itself?

Over the course of the entire calendar year, Lionel Messi has been the more consistent player of football’s most supreme duo. The Argentine has been simply magnificent - with barely any goal-drought to consider. Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, has been woeful since the start of the 2017/18 season.

When Leo Messi has been brilliant for 9/12 months and Ronaldo has been better for 3/12 - why, oh why, is the Portuguese star favourite to win the award? The logic simply does not compute.

#4 The Ballon d’Or is an individual award

FILE: Franck Ribery, Lionel Messi And Cristiano Ronaldo Short Listed For FIFA Ballon d'Or 2013

Cast your mind back to 2013, when the concept of the Ballon d’Or award received much scorn. A player who had been instrumental in his side winning the domestic cup and league title, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup, had been cast aside in favour of a player who had scored 66 goals.

The winner was Cristiano Ronaldo, and Franck Ribery, who’d won 5 trophies for Bayern Munich was left empty-handed.

It was completely justified.

This needs repeating time and time again - the Ballon d’Or is an individual award. A player who has helped his team to win trophies in May already has his reward - Ribery still has those 5 medals - the Ballon d’Or is an award for the best player of the calendar year - whether he plays for Real Madrid or Real Oviedo.

Individually, there is no contest this year - Messi has outperformed Cristiano Ronaldo statistically. He dragged one of the worst Barcelona sides in recent memory to within 3 points of the La Liga title. The Argentine wizard also dragged his nation, kicking and screaming, into the 2018 FIFA World Cup all by himself - this isn’t hyperbole.

Lionel Messi has been the best individual player in 2017, and thus the Ballon d’Or should have been his.

#5 Match-winner

Real Madrid CF v FC Barcelona - La Liga

The sight of Leo Messi wheeling away after scoring a last-minute winner for Barcelona and Argentina has become de rigueur in 2017 - that's simply how often the diminutive wizard has been pivotal. In total, Messi has scored 14 game-winning goals from December 2016 to December 2017.

Cristiano Ronaldo hasn't been too shabby either, scoring 12 game-winning goals in the same period.

However, I have a bit of a beef with how 'game-winning goals' are considered - stat boffins around the world consider the goal that made it 1-0 in a 5-0 thrashing a 'game-winner' when, in truth, it would barely have made a difference.

Even if we exclude these sorts of goals, Lionel Messi is far ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo as well, being the difference in 7 games as opposed to Ronaldo, who's done it 4 times.

The fact that Ronaldo's 4 game-winning goals have come in finals is probably why he won the 2017 Ballon d'Or, but Messi can take comfort from the fact that he is far more pivotal than his greatest rival.