Lionel Messi wins 2015 Ballon d’Or

The prolific attacker won his fifth Ballon d’Or this week – two more than anyone else – and is widely regarded as one of the most talented stars the game has ever seen.

Ronaldo received just 28% of votes while Neymar was far behind with just 8% of votes.

Messi was named world player of the year 2015 after receiving 41.33% of the vote, Real Madrid forward Ronaldo finished second with 27.76% and Barca’s Neymar got 7.86% to claim the third spot.

“It’s all about winning titles as a club and the players know this is more important than any individual accolades”. Ronaldo scored more goals than Messi with 57 goals in 57 games compared to 52 from Messi in 61 games while Brazil Neymar scored 45 goals in 62 matches.

Neymar was all smiles after his Barcelona teammate won the award. After Ronaldo broke his streak to take the award the past two years, but Messi was able to beat his Portugeuse rival and becomes the first footballer to win the award five times.

With Barca, his only club, Messi has won the Champions League four times, the Spanish league seven times, three Spanish Cups and a host of other trophies such as the Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup. He then lead Argentina to a runners-up spot in the Copa America tournament, where they were beaten on penalties by Chile.

Messi was also being eyed as the recipient of the Puskas award after he made a stellar solo goal against Athletic Bilbao but it ultimately went to Brazilian striker Wendell Lira, whose bicycle kick left everyone stunned.

Messi, who has been playing with the Catalan club since the age of 13, said he as a kid always dreamed of playing for an Argentine club.

But the diminutive forward – who won the Ballon d’Or for the fifth time on 11 January – has revealed his ambition is to play for a side in Argentina.