Ballon d’Or 2019: 5 reasons why Virgil Van Dijk should win the award ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Liverpool have won the Champions League for the sixth time in their history, moving ahead of Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Only Milan (7) and the kings of Europe Real Madrid (13) have held the most prestigious club honour in European football more times.
The Reds were fully deserving of it. They were exemplary in the league and were only beaten by the near-perfect Manchester City. The fact that Liverpool lost just one game in the league showed how good they were.
They were also in the final of the Champions League last year but were beaten by Real Madrid. This time, however, the Merseyside outfit went in as favourites against Spurs and won the match, which was perhaps one of the worst CL finals of all time.
Both sides didn’t play their best football but if one footballer stood out, it has to be Virgil Van Dijk, who was almost perfect in Madrid last night.
And so, without further ado, here are 5 reasons why he should win the Ballon d’Or this year…
#5 Defensively astute
There is not much to say about Van Dijk when it comes to his defensive ability. He is quick, tall and has a great command of his position, which is what makes him such a difficult defender to beat.
The Dutchman made 1 tackle and interception, each, per-game this season. While that might not be astounding, his clearance statistic is just a testament to how he is always there at the right place at the right time.
He made 5.1 interceptions-per-game in the recently-concluded season. Also, he was not dribbled past even once in the Champions League and the Premier League.
Not even once. It just goes to show that he is nearly unbeatable right now.