The fact that Leo Messi received his fifth Ballon d’Or on Monday was far from a surprise. Even his biggest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, was expecting it as shown by how he responded to questions about who the favourite was in the build-up to the announcement.
“Messi has a better chance of winning the Ballon d’Or than me because he’s won trophies as a team”, stated the Portuguese. The Argentine’s five medals from 2015 did prove to be the difference as he picked up 41.33% in the votes.
One of the keys behind Barcelona’s recent success has been the extraordinary link-up play between the attacking trio of Messi, Neymar and Suárez. The only member of the MSN not present in Zurich was the Uruguayan forward, but Messi did not forget about him. “He deserved to be here, but he will be on future occasions”, said the Argentine.
Messi also heaped praise on Neymar who finished third in the voting: “He’s not my or anyone else’s successor. He’s going to carry on down his path and has everything to go as far as he wants to go”.
The Brazilian forward also uttered words about the absent Luis Suárez: “What Leo has done is incredible, he’s the best on the planet. He deserves it because he’s our star. The dream was for Suárez to be here too. All three of us deserved to be this year”.
Bron: Marca
