Lionel Messi wins a fifth Ballon d’Or – of course he did

Usual suspects Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are once again battling for the top prize, as the pair have won the last seven Ballon d’Ors, while young gun Neymar tries to spoil the party and grab his first.

There’s no doubt that Messi has been the best player in world football for many years now, and probably in my lifetime, but in 2015 Neymar was on another level.

And Ronaldo took the opportunity to lavish rare praise upon the man who has pipped him to the world player of the year award four times.

And Wenger, who has previously claimed that individual awards like the Ballon d’Or have the potential to “destroy careers”, believes Barcelona’s haul of five trophies in 2015 should make Messi the victor.

Numerous biggest names in the soccer world will be on hand in Zurich on Monday, when the outstanding individuals of the past 12 months are recognized at the FIFA Ballon d’Or gala.

The thing is the Brazilian captain won’t win because he will always be in the shadow of the Argentine superstar at the Camp Nou.

The third of the contenders, Neymar, will be on the podium for the first time, following his influential role in Barcelona taking home five trophies in 2015.

“It is evident there is the collective objective that attracts him, motivates him and continues to motivate him year after year”.

“He is a unique and unrepeatable player”, said Enrique, who won’t attend Monday’s ceremony in Zurich despite being nominated himself for coach of the year. The goal was Messi’s second of the game, and the fastest two goals he’s scored since 2007.

Elsewhere, Sevilla maintained their outside hopes of a top-four finish thanks to Kevin Gameiro’s double in a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao. It led to Neymar’s shot off the post with the rebound falling right to the feet of Messi for the easy finish and his 25th La Liga hat trick.

Neymar got in on the act with nine minutes remaining, slamming the ball into the roof of the net after another fine piece of work by Messi, who began the move with the help of Alves before leaving it for his team-mate to finish off.

And even when the Premier League appears to be developing a potential Ballon d’Or victor, Barcelona or Real Madrid will swoop in and offer them a safe passage to La Liga, as they did with Gareth Bale in 2013 and Luis Suarez in 2014.

The World Cup-winning United States team is set to dominate the women’s honors.