Top 5 players who missed out on Ballon d'Or list

Sergio Busquets – Barcelona

Busquets is the base of a midfield triangle at Barcelona and allows Andres Iniesta and Xavi to flourish further up the field. His role in the Barca side is hugely important as when the Catalans are in full flow in attack, Busquets drops into central defence, creating a back three with the two centre backs.

His pass accuracy is sublime, averaging 92% in La Liga last season, even making two assists. He also scored from his only shot. Against Real Madrid last week, he only misplaced one of his 50 attempted passes, pretty outstanding.

In terms of trophies, it was a disappointing season for Barcelona as they only won La Liga. They were humbled 7-0 on aggregate by European champions Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the Champions League and were knocked out at the same stage of the Copa del Rey.

Busquets amassed eight caps for Spain in 2013 and helped them qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.