Lionel Messi Awarded 2019 Ballon d’Or Winner

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On Monday night,The Ballon d’Or 2019 ceremony concluded and as expected, Lionel Messi taken the award for the sixth time in his career. The Barcelona forward had competition from Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk but eventually prevailed with the Dutch defender taking second place on the podium. Keep reading for the 2019 Ballon d’Or highlights.

Presented by France Football, the 64th ceremony of the Ballon d’Or was held on Monday night (Tuesday, December 3 IST) at the Theatre du Chatelet, Paris, France. Lionel Messi, who already won the 2019 FIFA Men’s Best Player award back in September beating Virgil van Dijk, once again beat the Dutchman to lift the Ballon D’Or 2019. Messi won the award back in 2015 and has now 6 Ballon d’Or awards, leaving his Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo behind at 5.

Lionel Messi scored an astonishing 51 goals in 50 appearances last season to help Barcelona win the LaLiga title. He also led Argentina to a 3rd placed finish at the Copa America 2019. Lionel Messi scored 45 goals so far in 2019 and has continued his surreal form once again this season. Virgil van Dijk came second after helping Liverpool win the Champions League last season and leading the club’s march to a Premier League title this season. Cristiano Ronaldo finished third to complete the top three in the Ballon d’Or 2019.

Megan Rapinoe won the Ballon d’Or Feminin, making her the second woman to win the award and the first American player to do so.

The Barcelona striker pipped Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, Ronaldo and 26 others to the crown. Messi had already beaten van Dijk to FIFA’s The Best title in September.

Matthijs de Ligt picked up the Kopa Trophy for best U-21 player for his role in former club Ajax’s Champion’s League campaign and his showing for the Dutch national team and Juventus.

Alisson Becker was awarded the Yachine Trophy for the best men’s goalkeeper. The Brazilian has been crucial to Liverpool’s Champion’s League campaign last season and to his country’s victorious Copa America season, keeping five clean sheets and conceding only once through the tournament. Meanwhile, MIA Cristiano Ronaldo was in Milan, attending the Serie A gala, where he was awarded the MVP of the season Award for his showing at Juventus.