Messi, who also plays for Barcelona, and Ronaldo, for Real Madrid, have dominated the award finishing first and second every year for four years and in six of the past seven years.
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1 – Messi is the only player to have won more than three FIFA Ballon d’Or awards, his latest success following his wins in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Was it ever really in doubt, although I’m speaking like it’s happened already but it’s surely a done deal, Lionel Messi will win his fifth Ballon d’Or tonight in Zurich.
There was no double triumph for Messi at the Ballon d’Or ceremony, however, as he failed to pick up the Puskas Award for his wonderful weaving run against Athletic Bilbao.
The names of Messi, Neymar and Ronaldo were taken from a shortlist of 23 players who were assessed for their performance on the pitch-skills and attitude wise.
Few hours before winning the fifth Ballon d’Or, Messi was quoted as saying by The Telegraph that: “I’d swap five Ballon d’Or trophies for one World Cup”.
Neymar, being a part of the breath-taking trio alongside Messi and Suarez has found the net 43 times in 2015.
Their 18-year-old striker Adalberto Peñaranda, who scored four goals in his last four league appearances, struggled to make an impression.
The victor of the 2016 Ballon d’Or ceremony will be announced on Monday night.
With Ronaldo’s productivity and noticeably having had a drop in form over the past few months Messi could reign supreme for a few years to come.
Now coach, captain and a chosen journalist from each country will decide on the most prestigious individual honor in the world’s most popular team game.
While it looks more and more likely that Lionel Messi will be leaving with the award, one of the key questions is whether Cristiano Ronaldo or Neymar will finish second. Last year thankfully we managed to reach nearly all of the goals, had an unbelievable year, and it filled us with pride.
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Arda Turan made his first league start for the hosts after Barca’s year-long ban from registering new players was lifted earlier in the week, and the Turkish global provided his first assist for the club with a lovely through ball for Messi to slot home after just eight minutes.
