Tuesday, 1st December 2009

As has been expected, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has been confirmed as this year’s Ballon d’Or winner. What might not have been foreseen however, was the staggering, almost unanimous verdict, which saw journalists award him 473 points out a possible 480. This caps an exceptional year for the 22-year-old Argentinean, who scored 38 goals en route to winning a remarkable treble with his club.

"Honestly, I knew that I was among the favourites because Barcelona had a fruitful year in 2009," the mercurial attacker told France Football. "But I didn’t expect to win with such a margin. The Ballon d’Or is very important to me. All the players who won it were great players, and some great players never won it.”

It was a great night for not just Messi, but for Barcelona players in general, with four members of the treble-winning campaign included in the top-five. Xavi Hernandez was third, Andres Iniesta fourth, and Inter Milan new-boy Samuel Eto’o fifth, with last year’s Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, settling for second.

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