Ten years since Leo Messi's first Ballon d'Or
On December 1, 2009, Leo Messi was crowned as the best player in the world for the first time when he won the Ballon d'Or. At only 22, he led the team during a historic year for Barça, in which they won six titles: Copa del Rey, La Liga, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup. Messi was decisive in each competition, and we review his statistics below:
Copa del Rey
8 games
6 goals
1 assist
La Liga
30 games
22 goals
10 assists
Champions League
12 games
6 goals
2 assists
Spanish Super Cup
1 game
2 goals
European Super Cup
1 game
1 assist
Club World Cup
2 games
2 goals
Messi scored 38 times and in five of the six competitions that he played. Many of these goals were very important, such as the double scored in the Santiago Bernabéu during the historic 2-6, the header in the Champions League final against Manchester United, one from the final of the Copa del Rey against Athletic Club or the one that gave Barça their first Club World Cup after extra time against Estudiantes.
Those figures gave Messi a record number of votes at the Ballon d'Or, with 473 out of 480 possible, and 240 more than the second placed candidate, Cristiano Ronaldo (233 points). Xavi Hernández was in third position (170) and Andrés Iniesta, in fourth (149). In the list of the top 30, there were other Barça players: Samuel Eto'o, who in the summer of 2009 went to Inter Milan (5th, 75 points); Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who arrived in the summer of 2009 (7th, 50 points); Thierry Henry (15th, 9 points) and Touré Yaya (29th, 1 point).
Scorer of Barça's 5,000th goal
That same year, the goal scored by Messi against Racing Santander was the 5,000th in club history. It was a match in which the No.10 started from the bench and helped to reverse the scoreline. Marco Aurelio was the scorer of goal number 1,000 in 1950; Pedro Zaballa had number 2,000 in 1964: Quini scored number 3,000 in 1982 and that was followed by Guillermo Amor's goal number 4,000 in 1996. Thirteen years later, the Argentinian scored number 5,000 and met Quini and Amor for a historical photograph.
This year, favourite to win it for the sixth time
This Monday, December 2 in Paris, the new champion of the most prestigious trophy in the world of football will be revealed. Leo Messi returns to be nominated among the three finalists for the 12th time in his career. Along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk, the Argentinian is once again the favourite to obtain his sixth Ballon d'Or, after winning it in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
From an individual perspective, the Argentine is the flagship winner of this years 'The Best,' and was the highest scorer in the league, with 36 goals. He he was the top scorer in the Champions League with 12 goals, one of them, in the semifinals against Liverpool, was awarded as the best goal in the competition, and curiously was his 600th in a Barça shirt. Collectively, Messi raised Barça's 26th La Liga title, the tenth of his career and he has reached the historic figure of 700 matches as a blaugrana, only behind Xavi Hernández, with 767.