FIFA The Best 2019: 3 reasons why Lionel Messi deserved to win the Best Men's Player award
The 4th edition of the FIFA The Best awards were held in Milan on Monday evening, and as expected, it was a thrilling ceremony attended by the biggest names in the game of football.
There were a total of nine individual awards handed out at the event, with Jurgen Klopp, Jill Ellis, Alisson and Sari van Veenendaal among the winners.
The biggest awards of the night were, however, the crowing of the Best Men and Female Player, with USWNT star and co-captain Megan Rapinoe taking home the female award, while Barcelona captain Lionel Messi was named as the Best FIFA Men's Player for the first time in his career.
Lionel Messi winning the award understandably generated a lot of furore online, with many expressing their opinion that Netherlands and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk was a more deserving winner.
While the 28-year-old towering centre-back was equally deserving of the award, Lionel Messi deserved it just a bit more. Here, we shall be highlighting three reasons why the Argentine international deserved to be named the 2019 FIFA Best Men's Player.
#3 He had a spectacular domestic campaign
Barcelona almost strolled their way to a 26th LaLiga crown, and the ease of their triumph was made possible largely thanks to the displays of their iconic captain.
Messi was unplayable on many occasions and put in a number of scintillating displays during the course of the season.
Expectedly, there were numerous records set along the way, and the 32-year-old ended the season with league highs of 36 goals and 15 assists from just 34 matches to help Barcelona finish nine points clear of second-placed Atletico Madrid, and 19 ahead of bitter rivals Real Madrid.
His 36 goals were significantly more than anyone else managed in Europe, and he won a record-extending sixth European Golden Shoe for his efforts.
To put this in perspective, Barcelona scored 90 LaLiga goals last season, and the Rosario native was involved in exactly 56% of those goals and this gives an idea of just how important Messi was to Barcelona successfully defending their league title.
By contrast, his main rivals did not fare as well domestically, with van Dijk's PFA Player of the Year performance only enough to secure second place in the Premier League for the Reds, while Ronaldo scored just 21 goals and eight assists as Juventus strolled their way to another league title.
It is unarguable that the Bianconerri would have won the Scudetto even without Ronaldo's input, while van Dijk could not inspire Liverpool to a much-awaited Premier League title.
By contrast, Barcelona would not have done as well as they did in LaLiga were it not for Messi's immense contributions, and as such, he deserved the award as recognition for his domestic performance last season.