The Ballon d'Or could be back in familiar hands this year
#1 Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona)
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Barcelona v Liverpool - UEFA Champions League Semi Final: First Leg
The 5 time Ballon d'Or winner finished 5th in the Ballon d'Or rankings last year. He received just 280 votes, an unimaginable result. It was the first time since 2007 that Messi had finished outside the top three. The whole world was astonished with the declaration, but the 5th best player in the world responded in the only way known to him - on the field.
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Messi was handed the armband at the start of the season and since then, has looked every bit a captain that Barcelona needed this season. He has inspired his team, he has led from the front and he has pulled them out of tight spots on a regular basis. He has mesmerized on the field and defied description at times. And all the while, he has made a mockery of the people who adjudged him to be the 5th best player in the world last year.
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The Argentinean has scored 48 goals from 46 games in all competitions for Barcelona and has also registered 15 assists. He has helped Barcelona to the La Liga title and has also lifted them to the Copa Del Rey finals. And in the Champions league, he has been in inspiring form, scoring 12 goals from 9 games already and giving them a brilliant advantage going into the second leg of the semi finals against Liverpool.
Messi also looks set to win a record 6th La Liga Golden Boot and is currently the front runner for the European Golden Boot this season. As such, it is divine justice that Lionel Messi is the top contender for the Ballon d'Or 2019 at the start of May 2019.
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About the author
Deepungsu Pandit
Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written close to 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.
Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.
Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.
Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.
Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.
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