Barça’s Leo Messi has come in second in the 2016 Ballon d’Or. The five-time winner finished second for the fourth time in his career as Real Madrid and Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo took the award with Atlético Madrid and France striker Antoine Griezmann in third place.
Perhaps more impressively, Messi has now finished in the top three every season since 2007. From 2009 to 2012 he claimed the award on four consecutive occasions, cementing his position as one of the best players in the history of the game.
Two other Barça players made the top five in the list of the best footballers of the year that’s about to end. Golden Shoe winner Luis Suárez finished fourth, and fellow trident member Neymar Jr was fifth. They were followed by Real Madrid's Gareth Bale (6th), Leicester City's Riyad Mahrez (7th) and Jamie Vardy (8th), and Real Madrid's Pepe and Juventus's Gianluigi Buffon (9th).
Messi remains the player with the most Ballon d’Or wins to his name (five), with Ronaldo now second in the list with four – one more than Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten.
