2019 Ballon D'Or winner revealed ahead of opening ceremony on December 2: Report
Ballon d'Or 2019 award ceremony is less than a week away and the name of the winner is already revealed. With Lionel Messi, Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo being the front runners to the win the coveted award, according to a report in Fox Sports Asia, a Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo revealed Messi will claim his sixth Ballon d'Or title on December 2nd in Paris.
Lionel Messi is currently tied with five Ballon d'Or trophies with his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo and is expected to take a lead in 2019 ceremony. It was last season when Real Madrid's Luka Modric ended the decade long domination by Messi-Ronaldo in Ballon d'Or ceremony.
Messi was the top scorer in the Europe last season with 51 goals in 50 games. The 32-year-old forward was the backbone of Barcelona last season in their La Liga winning the campaign. However, Messi couldn’t take his team to Champions League glory despite being the top scorer of the tournament with 12 goals.
Alongside Messi, Virgil van Dijk is also one of the favourites to clinch the trophy as he also won the PFA Premier League Player of the Year and UEFA Player of the year. The Netherlands' defender was the strongest pillar of Liverpool in the Champions League winning-campaign, which makes his case for this year's Ballon D'Or stronger.
Meanwhile, Messi is all set to play his 700th game for Barcelona against Borussia Dortmund in the group stage of UEFA Champions League clash on November 28.
Barcelona are currently on the top of group table tally with 2 wins and 2 draws in four games and they will look to finish with the same.
