The Argentinian, who topped the goalscoring charts in the last edition of the Champions League has beaten Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi to win the award.
53 reporters from different media and countries have decided that Leo Messi was the best player in
UEFA club competitions last year, and he thus becomes the first ever winner of the award. The
announcement was made shortly after the Champions League draw, with the winner pipping team mate
Xavi Hernández and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid to the honour. Iniesta and Piqué came fourth
and ninth respectively.
Speaking
after collecting the award, Messi said “I want to share this with my colleagues as it is
thanks to them that I win these trophies … I am very lucky to have such good players at my
side and it is them who give me the opportunity to score so many goals. The merit is
everyone’s.” He added that the hunger to win among the Barça squad is one of the
reasons for their ongoing success.
Before the winner was announced, Xavi showed his usual generosity when saying that
“Messi is the best footballer in the world at the moment”, something he has been saying
for years. He also felt that FC Barcelona is experiencing “one of the best moments in its
history”.
This
is just the latest of many awards to have been won by Leo Messi. He has already won a FIFA World
Player (2009) and two Ballons d’Or (2009 and 2010), the last of which was after the two
awards were unified. He also been top goalscorer both in Spain and Europe in 2009/10. “I have
all my trophies at home, both the individual and team ones” he said.