Carles Puyol says it would be a “huge injustice” if Lionel Messi did not win an unprecedented fifth Ballon d’Or on Monday.
Messi, his Barcelona teammate Neymar and Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo are on the shortlist for the biggest individual accolade in world football, which will be handed out at a lavish awards ceremony in Zurich.
Messi is the bookmakers’ favourite to take the award from his great rival Ronaldo, who won his third Ballon d’Or gong last season.
The Argentine was the star performer in Barca’s five-trophy haul in 2015, scoring 48 goals in the calendar year.
And Puyol, who played alongside Messi, 28, for 10 seasons, thinks his former teammate is by far the best in the field.
“You never know what might end up happening, but it would be a surprise and a huge injustice if Messi was not to win the Ballon d’Or,” the former Barcelona captain said.
Messi broke new ground in 2012 when he won the award for a fourth time, eclipsing the achievements of Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten and Michel Platini, who took home the gong on three occasions each.
Puyol thinks the forward still has plenty of time to go on and win many more awards.
He added: “It will be hard for any other player in the future to win five Ballon d’Ors, and Messi is not going to retire tomorrow so even if he wins (his fifth title) on Monday he can even add more to his name.”
Ronaldo may have won the award 12 months ago, but Real Madrid’s indifferent form this year is likely to end up costing him the gong this time around.
The Portuguese scored a remarkable 54 goals in 52 games last year, but his efforts could not help Madrid land either of their big targets – the Primera Liga or the Uefa Champions League.
Neymar found the net 43 times last year as part of a deadly triumvirate with Messi and Luis Suarez, but the 23-year-old player is a big outsider to win his first Ballon d’Or on Monday.
There are no British players on the shortlist for the 10th successive season, but Mark Sampson could come home with a prize as he is in contention for the best women’s team coach following his success with England at the World Cup last summer.
The 33-year-old Welshman led the Lionesses to third place in Canada.
John Terry, Wayne Rooney and Gareth Bale are the only British players on a 55-man shortlist for the FIFPro world XI.
Italy
Roberto Mancini hit out at a refereeing “mistake” that dented Inter Milan’s title hopes after a last-gasp 1-0 defeat to Sassuolo at the San Siro yesterday. Inter spurned a host of chances in a lively encounter and paid for those misses at the death when Domenico Berardi beat Samir Handanovic from the spot after falling under a challenge from Brazilian defender Joao Miranda. Mancini said his side’s lack of clinical finishing was a factor, but the Italian aimed most of his criticisms at the referee’s decision to award the penalty. “The penalty that came at the end was a terrible mistake. That’s football though,” Mancini said. “Now, we have to roll up our sleeves and get back to work. We had two or three clear chances and they had only one.” The loss meant they slipped to second in the Serie A standings as Napoli thrashed Frosinone 5-1 to move top. Two goals for Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain, and efforts from Raul Albiol, Marek Hamsik and Manolo Gabbiadini secured the win.
France
Midfielder Mathieu Valbuena said yesterday that he would be willing to play alongside Karim Benzema in the French national team at Euro 2016 despite the ongoing blackmail case involving the Real Madrid striker. “We will see how it goes, but yes, no problem, anything is possible. It wasn’t like it was a murder,” the Lyon midfielder told television station TF1. Valbuena’s comments come despite Benzema being sidelined by the French Football Federation after being charged with complicity to blackmail and conspiring to commit a criminal act involving a sex tape featuring Valbuena. He was also banned from meeting 31-year-old Valbuena, a midfielder for Lyon, where Benzema began his career. Valbuena’s form has recently dipped and he may struggle to win his place back in Didier Deschamps’s France side and he conceded that “this affair will come up again with the Euros approaching and two France players implicated”.
England
Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores is unconcerned about Arsenal’s reported interest in Troy Deeney. The striker, who scored the winner in Watford’s 1-0 FA Cup third-round win against Newcastle United on Saturday, has been linked with a surprise move to north London this month, but Flores said Deeney and his strike partner Odion Ighalo, who dropped to the bench for Saturday’s Cup clash, will still be at Watford when the transfer window closes. “It is normal as Deeney has scored a lot,” Flores replied when asked about Arsenal’s interest in his captain, whose winner against the Magpies was his seventh goal of an impressive campaign. “It is important for the confidence of the players and I am happy because he is scoring but I am not worried about what happens in the future. Deeney and Ighalo are good players for this team ... I am sure these players will not be going in the middle of the season.”
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