When Messi Backed Sadio Mane for Ballon d’Or Award As He Joins Ronaldo at Al Nassr

• Lionel Messi revealed that he backed Sadio Mane to win the 2019 Ballon d'Or award
• Messi ended up bagging the award, the sixth of his career to pull clear of Cristiano Ronaldo
• Mane and Ronaldo will be teammates after the former joined Saudi Arabia giants, Al-Nassr

Lionel Messi is the most decorated football player in history, having won seven Ballon d'Or awards over the course of his career.

Some of his Ballon d'Or wins were undisputed, like when he scored 91 goals in a single calendar season in 2012. Or like in 2009 when he was the nerve centre of Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Barcelona team that won the sextuple.

But in other years, like in 2010, his Ballon d'Or wins were controversial. Many thought Wesley Sneijder deserved to win, but the Dutchman was snubbed - he never even finished in the top three.

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2019 was equally a hotly-contested battle, with Virgil Van Dijk coming agonizingly close to becoming the second defender to win the award since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006.

The Liverpool defender had just revolutionised the Reds' backline leading them to the Champions League title, which included the famous comeback against Messi's Barcelona in the semifinals.

He was, however, beaten to the lucrative individual gong by 7 points, as reported by the Independent, with Messi's individual numbers for Barcelona giving the Argentine the advantage.

Why Messi voted for Mane

Speaking after receiving his sixth Ballon d'Or title, Messi revealed that he had other ideas of where the title should have gone - and it wasn't Van Dijk. The father of three disclosed that he had voted for Sadio Mane to win the award and he was actually surprised by the Senegalese's final placing.

"It's a shame to see Mane finish in fourth place. But I think there have been a lot of great players this year. That's why it was difficult to choose a particular player. But I chose Sadio Mane because he's a player that I like." he said, as quoted by Sky Sports.

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Cristiano Ronaldo finished in third place ahead of Mane. It was the first time since 2010 that the then-Juventus striker finished outside the top two. Mane would later finish second behind Karim Benzema in the 2022 final rankings.

The 31-year-old has since changed clubs from Liverpool to Bayern Munich to Al-Nassr, where he will line up against Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League next season.

Updated Ballon d'Or rankings

Sports Brief had earlier reported that the UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul marked the end of the 2022/2023 European football season.

It was a gruelling period for all those involved, featuring a packed schedule that also saw all leagues take a lengthy break for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Mundial and the Champions League will be crucial in determining who will win the Ballon d'Or, with Haaland and Messi the favourites for this year.