Jordi Alba has hit out at the France Football’s decision to rank Lionel Messi fifth in the Ballon d’Or awards.
Luka Modric picked up the highly coveted award on December 5, beating out the only two players to have won it in the last 10 years, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Was Messi robbed at the 2018 Ballon d’Or? Five things you need to know…
- Luka Modric became the first player in 10 years other than Messi or Ronaldo to win the Ballon d’Or the award after his displays for Real Madrid and Croatia.
- The decision to give Modric the award came under criticism with former Brazil star, Rivaldo, claiming Ronaldo should have won the award.
- Five-time winner, Messi, finished in fifth place behind Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Ronaldo and winner Modric.
- And Jordi Alba believes his Barcelona team-mate should have won, calling Messi the best player in the world.
- Lionel Messi won the European Golden Shoe last season having score more top division goals than any other player in Europe (34).
Alba decried the awards, describing them as a “lie” and claimed that Messi should’ve won the award.
“The Ballon d’Or is a lie, there are many club and press campaigns [surrounding it],” the 29-year-old left-back told Goal.
“Everyone knows that Messi is the best player in the world by far.”
Alba added that if Ronaldo was still playing for Real Madrid, the award would’ve been handed to him instead.
“If Cristiano was still at Real Madrid he’d get the Ballon d’Or. There were many fans and journalists who wanted Cristiano to get the Ballon d’Or when he was in Real Madrid.
“Well, Cristiano left… and Modric gets it.”
Alba also took aim at Brazil legend Pele, after the three-time World Cup winner suggested that Messi “only has one skill”.
“Pele may not see it very well, if he says that about Leo,” he said. “Messi has everything.”
That came after Messi scored two goals from direct free-kicks in Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Espanyol at the weekend, to keep them at the top of La Liga.
Was Messi’s low Ballon d’or finish a lie?
The mercurial Barcelona legend has been heralded as the world’s best player by at least half of the footballing world for the best part of 10 years.
The diminutive Argentine regularly enthrals fans with his graceful skills around the world, with many tuning in just to see Messi nimbly weave through defences with the ball glued to his feet. His performances have seen him win the Ballon d’Or five times, a record he shares with Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, this year Messi was overlooked despite leading the European leagues with the highest number of goals scored and joint highest assists made.
Conspiracy theorists have mused that France Football and FIFA – who handed their Best Men’s Player award to Modric in September – have colluded to shift the focus from Messi and Ronaldo.
There’s no evidence to support that theory, but one of the reasons that Messi and Ronaldo may have missed out is because contributing to goals is maybe not as important as leading your team to success, which Modric did with Madrid and Croatia.
Still, Messi and Ronaldo could both make that claim and does anyone really believe that Modric was a better football player than Messi or Ronaldo over the last year?
The post Jordi Alba brands Ballon d’Or ‘a lie’ after marvellous Messi display appeared first on Squawka News.
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