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

#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.