![Lionel Messi wins sixth ballon d'or, and Virgil Van Dijk said this shocking thing on the red carpet [video]](https://sidomexentertainment.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/messi-1.png)
At the prestigious event, Messi picked up his sixth ball and became the first player ever to win six Ballon d’Or awards.
The award was voted on by reputable journalists who put Messi’s year ahead of Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo, who came in second and third respectively.
Messi scored 49 goals and was involved in 17 assists for club and country as the Barcelona forward helped his team hold on to their La Liga cup.
“I would like to thank all of the journalists who voted for me and wanted me to have this prize,” said Messi after picking up the award in Paris on Monday night alongside his two sons and wife.
“Thank you so much to my colleagues who have actually contributed a lot to this prize. It is amazing, thank you so much.
“I hope to continue for a long time. I realise that I am very lucky, even if, one day, retirement will ring. It will be difficult. But I still have beautiful years ahead of me. Time goes very quickly, so I want to enjoy football and my family.”
Messi has also won the prestigious award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
Meanwhile, before the awards were presented, Virgil Van Dijk jokingly trolled Cristiano Ronaldo on the red carpet.
The Juventus player did not attend the awards ceremony this year, after failing to show up last year.
“Cristiano won’t be here, so that’s already one rival less,” a reporter said, to which the Dutchman responded with: “Was he a rival then?”
His quote quickly went viral on social media, where Piers Morgan slammed him for his statement.
Hi Piers, If you don’t jump on the social media bandwagon and would listen to the whole interview then you would know I made a joke, and only got respect for those 2 ?
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) December 2, 2019
The top ten contenders for the 2019 Ballon d’Or
- Lionel Messi
- Virgil van Dijk
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Sadio Mane
- Mohamed Salah
- Kylian Mbappe
- Alisson
- Robert Lewandowski
- Bernardo Silva
- Riyad Mahrez
What do you think? Was Van Dijk really joking? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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