Chris Sutton has said that Liverpool central defender Virgil van Dijk should have won the Ballon d’Or award on Monday night, not Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.
The former Celtic and Chelsea striker, who now works as a pundit for BBC Sport and BT Sport, believes that Van Dijk had a much bigger season than Messi.
Successful seasons
The Netherlands international central defender played an important role in Liverpool finishing second in the Premier League table last season.
The former Celtic and Southampton star was also a key figure in the Reds winning the Champions League during the 2018-19 campaign.
Messi was a leading figure in Barcelona winning La Liga yet again last season, and the 32-year-old Argentina international forward also scored 54 goals for club and county in 2018-19.
This is the first time that Messi has won the Ballon dOr since 2015 and for the sixth time overall, a record and one more than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi is pretty good but Van Dijk deserved the Ballon dOr... he had a much bigger season than Messi...
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) December 2, 2019
In the Ballon dOr voting this year, Van Dijk finished second, while Juventus and Portugal international forward Cristiano Ronaldo ended up third.
Other Winners
Liverpool and Senegal international forward Sadio Mane finished fourth in the votes, while his club teammate and Egypt international forward Mohamed Salah was fifth.
Liverpool keeper Alisson won the inaugural Yashin Trophy for being the best goalkeeper last season, while Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt was awarded the Kopa Trophy - the best under-21 player and selected by former Ballon d’Or winners.
