Here are 5 major reasons why Lionel Messi can get his hands on Ballon d’Or for the sixth time.

La Liga dominance

The Barcelona forward racked up an impressive 36 goals and 13 assists in the recently concluded season, leaving no place for any other players to catch up with him.

Champions League reign

Messi ended as the Champion league top scorer with 12 goals and 3 assists despite losing to Liverpool in the semi-finals.  

Golden Boot winner

The Argentine is due to collect his sixth golden boot for dominating the scoring charts than any other players in Europe’s top 5 leagues. This will give him a definite edge over others.

Virgil Van Dijk’s defeat in Nations League.

The Liverpool centre-back was long considered as the serious contender to lift the Ballon d’Or award as he won the Premier League player of the season and the UCL title. But Netherland’s failure in the Nations League finals against Portugal has now allowed Messi to supersede in the race.

Copa America

Messi’s brilliant chance of bagging the Ballon d’Or would be lifting the Copa America title, the competition which Argentina have continuously failed to win despite reaching the finals in the past two editions. The competition will commence in Brazil this week.

Regardless of losing out a well-deserved treble, the 31-year-old proves to have the advantage in many ways to lift the Ballon d’Or for the sixth time.