Lionel Messi wins Ballon d’Or for seventh time as Alexia Putellas crowned women’s winner in star-studded ceremony in Paris
- PSG star admits winning the Copa America with Argentina might have been the determining factor in him claiming prize
- Putellas captained Barcelona to victory in this year’s Champions League, scoring a penalty in the final as her side hammered Chelsea 4-0
Lionel Messi admitted winning the Copa America with Argentina might have been the determining factor in him claiming the men’s Ballon d’Or prize for the seventh time after a turbulent year, as Spain’s Alexia Putellas took the women’s award.
Now 34, Messi pipped much-fancied rivals like Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema to take the award in a glittering ceremony on Monday in Paris, the city he now calls home after leaving boyhood club Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in August.
Despite his tearful goodbye from Barcelona and his relatively underwhelming start to life in France, the jury of journalists from around the world rewarded him in particular for captaining Argentina to their first major international title since 1993.
“Two years ago I thought I was coming into my final years but here I am again back here,” said Messi, who won the last edition of the Ballon d’Or in 2019 before last year’s awards were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Messi also won in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and in 2015.