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Ballon d’Or 2019 RECAP: Lionel Messi wins SIXTH award, Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk second

Ballon d'Or 2019 RECAP: Lionel Messi wins SIXTH award, Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk second

Argentina’s Barcelona forward Lionel Messi claimed the men’s Ballon d’Or award for a record sixth time.

The 32-year-old, who lifted the coveted trophy in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015, beat Liverpool’s Champions League winner Virgil van Dijk in a vote of international journalists.

Messi won Spain’s La Liga title with Barca this year and led Argentina to third place at the Copa America in July.

‘It’s amazing’

20:40: Lionel Messi: “I would like to thank all of the journalists who voted for me and wanted me to have this prize. Thank you so much to my colleagues who have actually contributed a lot to this prize. It is amazing, thank you so much.”

Virgil van Dijk: “It’s been an amazing year, I was close but unfortunately there are a couple of players like Messi. I am very proud.”

And the winner is…

20:30: LIONEL MESSI WINS HIS SIXTH BALLON D’OR AWARD! The Argentine magician continues to break records at the age of 32.

Messi becomes the first player in footballing history to win the Ballon D’Or 6 times (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019).

Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk places second with five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo in third and Sadio Mane fourth.

The final four…

20:20: OK, well this marathon is nearing a close. Thankfully. Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane are in the final four – but their absence is kind of telling. Lionel Messi, the favourite, and Virgil van Dijk sit patiently waiting for the results.

Oh… and now a montage of the other 26 candidates with climactic music playing. What a time to be alive.

And the winner is…

20:15: The 2019 Women’s Ballon d’Or goes to… Megan Rapinoe! The USWNT star wins her first Ballon d’Or and finishes ahead of Lyon and England star Lucy Bronze and her US World Cup-winning colleague Alex Morgan.

She’s not actually in the house tonight – but Captain America left a pre-recorded message that includes a insight into her family and background.

“I’ll do my best to get there next year,” says Rapinoe.

Numbers 7-5

20:10: Ready for the next batch of the top ten? Good, because here it comes. Alisson grabs seventh, just behind PSG superstar Kylain Mbappe and our old friend Mohamed Salah slots in at number five.

7th – Alisson (Liverpool)

6th – Kylian Mbappe (PSG)

5th – Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

And the winner is…

20:05: Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson wins the 2019 Yashin Trophy! The Brazilian international is named goalkeeper in the world. Doubt he’ll be dropping the trophy on his way off the stage.

Barcelona’s Marc-André ter Stegen comes in second and Manchester City stopper Ederson settles for third.

“It’s a great honour, you strikers make our lives difficult. I want to thank my wife for supporting me wherever I go and I’d like to thank God,” says Alisson.

Next up

20:00: Time for the 2019 Yashin Trophy, given to the year’s best men’s goalkeeper. Weirdly, it’s being presented by Robert Lewandowski. The enemy of goalkeepers across the world…

The Bayern Munich talisman begins giving his speech before host Didier Drogba cuts him off to discuss their shared love of torturing goalkeepers and addiction to scoring goals.

Numbers 10-8

19:55: The top ten is starting to take shape with out first three players revealed.

10th – Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)

9th – Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)

8th – Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)


Ballon d’Or 2019 LIVE: Lionel Messi and Van Dijk eye top prize (Image: GETTY)

And the winner is…

19:50: The winner of the 2019 Kopa Trophy, awarded to the world’s best under-21 player is… Matthijs de Ligt! The former Ajax and Juventus defender, 20, gives a lovely speech as he collects the award. His voice cracks and wishes everyone a lovely evening.

That looked to be that but you guessed it – everyone is treated to a montage.

Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho comes in second and Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix in third.

Kylian Mbappe snub

19:46: Thrilling conversation going on tonight. Well I think it’s thrilling – we’re having it translated from French. Chelsea legend Didier Drogba is taking a selfie with Kylian Mbappe on stage because he snubbed the then unknown PSG star a decade ago after a Champions League match.

What are the awards?

19:45: There will be four trophies dished out this evening. Trophies? Gongs? Awards? We’ll stick with trophies…

The 2019 Men’s Ballon d’Or

The 2019 Women’s Ballon d’Or

The 2019 Kopa Trophy, awarded to the world’s best under-21 player

The 2019 Yashin Trophy, given to the year’s best men’s goalkeeper

Montage…

19:40: I’ve just covered the FA Cup third-round draw – so I’ve had my fill of montages for one evening. But the Ballon d’Or doesn’t care for my woes – we’ve just had a three-minute highlights package of all 30 nominees.

And we’re LIVE!

19:35: The ceremony has just started in Paris. We’ve got Didier Drogba and Sandy Heribert hosting the event. The Chelsea legend has just walked off stage to collect a pair of boots and challenge Lionel Messi and Co. to a game of five-a-side. Top bantz…

Ballon d’Or 2019 LIVE: Lionel Messi and Van Dijk eye top prize (Image: GETTY)

Royalty arrives…

They’re all arriving on the red carpet now! Lionel Messi, Virgil van Dijk and Robert Lewandowski are in the building having stopped for various pictures and interviews.

There was a wee bit of drama as a fan tried to break through the Barcelona delegation to get a selfie with Messi. I’m sad to report he didn’t get the snap and was ushered away by one of the security giants. Instagram’s loss if you ask me…

“It’s nice to be here of course. We will see what happens. It is a great honour to be here and be in the bracket of those sort of players. It gives me a lot of motivation to keep going,” Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk told reporters.

Ballon d’Or 2019 LIVE: Lionel Messi and Van Dijk eye top prize (Image: GETTY)

Ballon d’Or 2019 LIVE: Lionel Messi and Van Dijk eye top prize (Image: GETTY)

What happens next?

I’m glad you asked. After some extensive Googling and fastidious research – I now have the answer.

The Ballon d’Or ceremony is scheduled to get underway at 7.30pm at Paris’ Theatre du Chatelet. So we’ve got about 90 minutes to argue about the order of the top 30, watch the stars arrive on the red carpet and reminisce on how exactly Michael Owen took the prize in 2001.

The top ten…

So, after that fairly painless process – we’re left with the final ten all battling it out for the chance to come second to Lionel Messi.

That’s what the odds suggest anyway. Quite a surprise to see Riyad Mahrez in there but I suppose he helped Algeria win the Africa Cup of Nations. I’m probably not the best judge of these rankings – I’d have wanted Mohamed Eisa in there somewhere…

Alisson (Liverpool)

Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)



Sadio Mane (Liverpool)

Kylian Mbappe (PSG)

Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)

Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Ballon d’Or 2019 LIVE: Lionel Messi and Van Dijk eye top prize (Image: GETTY)

Numbers 15-11…

You can tell we’re getting to the business end of things – none of this joint-placed nonsense. These illustrious stars get their own number. With a combined value of about £400billion – we have places 11-15.

If someone could explain to me why on earth Raheem Sterling is so low down on this list – I’d appreciate it. That also means his colleague Riyad Mahrez will place in the top ten. Madness.

15th – Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus)

14th – Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)

13th – Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)

12th – Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

11th – Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona)

Ballon d’Or 2019 LIVE: Lionel Messi and Van Dijk eye top prize (Image: GETTY)

Numbers 20-16…

Ah, looks like I’ve made a mistake. Revealing them in batches of five has been my downfall because there was a joint 20th place. I do hope you can forgive me for this humiliating error. Anyway, quite a few big-hitters here with the rogue inclusion of Dusan Tadic. Nothing against him, just baffled why we never saw any evidence of this ability at Southampton…

20th – Dusan Tadic (Ajax)

19th – Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)

18th – Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)

17th – Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)

16th – Sergio Agüero (Manchester City)

Ballon d’Or 2019 LIVE: Lionel Messi and Van Dijk eye top prize (Image: GETTY)

Numbers 25-20…

The next batch arrives for you football hipsters. More of a Premier League flavour to these five – north London actually with two Spurs stars and one from Arsenal. I will not be fielding questions as to how exactly Hugo Lloris is so high up the list – I haven’t the energy…

24th – Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)

24th – Marc Andre Ter Stegen (Barcelona)

23rd – Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)

22nd – Son Heung-min (Tottenham)

20th – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)

Ballon d’Or 2019 LIVE: Lionel Messi and Van Dijk eye top prize (Image: GETTY)

Numbers 30-26…

Well this was never going to be easy. It appears that NOBODY will be ranked last out of the top 30 because there are three players ranked equally at 28th. I’d expect Felix to feature way higher in this list next season – and Benzema funnily enough, who’s had something of a rejuvenation at the Bernabeu.



28th – Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid)

28th – Marquinhos (PSG)

28th – Donny van der Beek (Ajax)

26th – Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

26th – Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool)

Ballon d’Or 2019 LIVE: Lionel Messi and Van Dijk eye top prize (Image: GETTY)

Right…

17:20: OK, no fluff or faff – let’s get down to brass tax.

The top ten finalists have been announced and the other 20 nominees have been ranked in order.

In true X-Factor style – I’m going to maximise the tension for absolutely no reason by revealing them in batches of five. You’re welcome…

Just realised what a pretty trophy it is. Kind of looks like something from the gift shop at a geological museum.

Ballon d’Or 2019 LIVE: Lionel Messi and Van Dijk eye top prize (Image: GETTY)

Afternoon…

17:15: Hello everyone and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the Ballon d’Or 2019.

It’ll be an evening of glitz and glamour as the world’s football elite gather at Paris’ Theatre du Chatelet to congratulate themselves and tuck into the fanciest prawn cocktail’s ever crafted.

I’ll explain the format in just a moment and provide you with the latest updates throughout the evening.

Past winners: The last decade

2018 – Luka Modric — 2017 – Cristiano Ronaldo — 2016 – Cristiano Ronaldo

2015 – Lionel Messi — 2014 – Cristiano Ronaldo — 2013 – Cristiano Ronaldo

2012 – Lionel Messi — 2011 – Lionel Messi — 2010 – Lionel Messi — 2009 – Lionel Messi

What time does the Ballon d’Or start?

The Ballon D’or is scheduled to get underway at 7.30pm GMT.

Paris’ Theatre du Chatelet will be staging the ceremony.

Ballon d’Or shortlists

Men:

Sadio Mane (SEN/Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (ARG/Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (NED/Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (FRA/Tottenham), Dusan Tadic (SER/Ajax), Kylian Mbappe (FRA/PSG), Trent Alexander-Arnold (ENG/Liverpool), Donny van de Beek (NED/Ajax), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (GAB/Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (GER/Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (POR/Juventus), Alisson (BRA/Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (NED/Juventus), Karim Benzema (FRA/Real Madrid), Georginio Wijnaldum (NED/Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (NED/Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (POR/Manchester City), Son Heung-min (KOR/Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (POL/Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (BRA/Liverpool), Lionel Messi (ARG/Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (ALG/Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (BEL/Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (SEN/Napoli), Antoine Griezmann (FRA/Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (EGY/Liverpool), Eden Hazard (BEL/Real Madrid), Marquinhos (BRA/Paris-SG), Raheem Sterling (ENG/Manchester City), Joao Félix(POR/Atletico Madrid)

Women:

Sam Kerr (AUS/Chelsea), Ellen White (ENG/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (SWE/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (FRA/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(ENG/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (NED/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (GER/Lyon), Pernille Harder (DEN/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (FRA/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (NED/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (NED/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (FRA/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (BRA/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (NOR/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (SWE/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (SWE/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns)

 

 

Source:www.express.co.uk

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