Ronaldo's fifth Ballon d'Or hurt me: Messi

Barcelona legend, Lionel Messi, revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo's claiming of his fifth Ballon d'Or, hurt him then.


Messi became the first player in history to win the Ballon D'or six times in his career, beating his rivals and arch-rivals Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo.

In a statement to France Football magazine, he said: "I loved that I was the only one who achieved five Ballon d'Or, when Cristiano equaled me admitted that this hurt me a little, I am no longer alone on top."

"Once again, team titles are more important, even though individual awards have great value, and of course the highest professional level always wants to win."


It was the longest time for Messi to win the Golden Ball as the last prize he won was in 2015.

Before that, the longest period in which Messi did not win the award was only two years, in 2013 and 2014.

It was the first time that Messi won the Golden Ball under the name "Ballon d'Or" after he was crowned before when the award was mixed with FIFA prize from 2010 to 2015.

The Ballon d'Or Award began in 1956 and in 1991 FIFA introduced the Player of the Year award.

From 1991 to 2010, 12 players have succeeded in combining the two awards out of 19 years.

From 2010 to 2015, the Ballon d'Or merged with the FIFA Player of the Year award and split up in 2016.

Ronaldo combined the two awards in 2008, 2016 and 2017, followed by Real Madrid star Luka Modric in 2018.

Messi brings the two awards in 2019, 10 years after he collected them in 2009 as well.