Lionel Messi won his eighth Ballon d'Or.
In a career that's spanned over 15 amazing years, we decided to take a look back at his best years and rank them!
In a career that's spanned over 15 amazing years, we decided to take a look back at his best years and rank them!
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00:00Hello everybody, Adam here again from 442.
00:09Now if you've not been following the news this week then you might not have heard that
00:12Mr Lionel Messi, right there, won the Ballon d'Or again.
00:16What?
00:17What?
00:18Nah, I never knew that, I never knew that.
00:22Yeah, I mean, it was no surprise really because Fabrizio Romano decided to tell us all a week
00:27ago so, you know, no one was really shocked but the debate has obviously been whether
00:32it should have been him or whether it should have been Erling Haaland or perhaps someone
00:35else, Kylian Mbappe perhaps.
00:38I don't want to really get into that because at the end of the day it is a little bit tedious,
00:42they're all very good players and Lionel Messi is the best player I've ever seen in my life
00:46so him winning the award off the back of a World Cup for me is not the end of the world
00:51so I thought why not do something a little bit different and rank all of Messi's eight
00:55Ballon d'Or wins from season to season based on the achievements he got in that year as
01:00well as the goals, as well as he scored, his general play, just how good he was and which
01:05ones were the most significant in his journey.
01:08So yeah, let's have a go at it.
01:10So in at number eight and his worst of the eight Ballon d'Ors, I've gone for 2021, that
01:16was the year where he scored 43 goals and won the Copa America for Argentina which was
01:21of course a very, very significant moment.
01:24Of course they didn't win international trophies under Lionel Messi other than the Olympic Games
01:28if you want to count that but I don't personally.
01:31He did win the Copa America in 2021 which was a seismic moment for his career because
01:36people had always doubted him on the international stage.
01:39Obviously you remember in 2016 he actually retired from the Argentinian national team
01:44and then obviously came back when they were like, mate we need you.
01:48But he returned and he returned in style winning the Copa America but I've put it eighth because
01:54Emi Martinez also played a massive part in that Copa America win with the shootout save
01:58against Colombia and other amazing saves.
02:00I mean he's a fantastic goalkeeper full stop and also 2020 and 2021 as everyone watching
02:06this video will know, it was just a weird period of history in general and life in general
02:10but also football in history, I mean the games behind closed doors.
02:15So I feel like the validity of any competition that was won in that year is slightly, slightly,
02:21slightly not tarnished but just like not as impressive as the years where it was played
02:27in front of fans.
02:28And of course as well he did leave Barcelona in 2021 as well which was the end of an era,
02:33a very sad and an unfitting ending for Messi really after what he did in a Barcelona shirt.
02:38So for all those things intertwined it was nice for him to win that Ballon d'Or in 2021
02:42the Copa America but I think out of the eight it was his worst one probably but you know
02:48I'd still take it if I was him.
02:50Okay in at number seven I've gone for this year 2023, the one that has just gone and
02:54the one where people were saying it was a robbery, it was this, Haaland should have
02:57won it, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, look end of the day he still won the World Cup which
03:02is better than the Copa America and he got 46 goals and assists in all competitions throughout
03:07the calendar year which is still very impressive for a 35 year old who's now playing a deeper
03:12role in the pitch, he's not as advanced as he used to be in the old Barcelona teams,
03:16the Pep Guardiola teams, playing right wing, centre forward, you name it, he plays a deep
03:20line role now and obviously at PSG that worked really well finding Mbappe over with those
03:24floated balls but listen in the World Cup he was a man mounting and he did carry them
03:30in certain games.
03:31I remember the Netherlands game where he played that defence splitting pass through Nathan
03:35Mbappe, his legs scored the penalty and he felt like a bit of a new man this year, he
03:39was giving a bit of a stick to Louis van Gaal, he called Weghorst a, yeah a bobo which means
03:52a fool or an idiot I believe in English but yeah very unlike Messi when people used to
03:57characterise him as a quiet man but regardless a seismic year for him and one that really
04:01capped off his career in the perfect fashion really, it was a perfect ending for him, cemented
04:07his status as the GOAT, I mean I personally think it was cemented anyway, it was probably
04:14cemented in about 2012 to be honest but we'll get on to that later on.
04:18Alright then in at number 6 I've gone for 2009 which was his first of all 8 Ballon d'Ors
04:23and of course you remember this as the year where he won his, well not his first Champions
04:28League technically because he did get a medal in 2006 but his first Champions League where
04:32he was a mainstay in the team playing under Pep Guardiola, that treble winning side and
04:36playing from the right wing as well.
04:38Aged just 21 he got 41 goals from right wing that season which is ridiculous, you know
04:47you think about the numbers that modern day wingers put up from wide positions, no one
04:51can really compete with him and of course 2009 was the year of that famous game in Rome
04:55against Manchester United which really birthed the Messi and Ronaldo era so that had so much
05:00significance for the next 10 years of football that it definitely ranks middle of the list
05:05I would say.
05:06We know Ronaldo was going to move to Real Madrid anyway had Manchester United won that
05:09final but listen it set the precedent then you had Ronaldo who won that Ballon d'Or
05:13in 08 then Messi in 09 and then we didn't see another winner until 10 years later with
05:18Luka Modric in 2018 which is just ridiculous.
05:22Alright then in at number 5 this is where it gets really tricky, I've gone for 2010
05:26next now let's have a look at what he did that year.
05:30So this was obviously the famous year where Zlatan Ibrahimović signed for Barcelona and
05:33was playing under Pep Guardiola, I'll say playing he only played a handful of games
05:37before Messi then moved to centre forward and there was a bit of a rift there obviously
05:41very very well documented in the past but he started playing centre forward and from
05:45scoring 41 goals at right wing the season before he then scored 58 from centre forward
05:50that season and it's when people were really like oh my god he is good.
05:55This was also a massive year for Messi because it was really the year where people started
05:59to discuss him as potentially the best player that's ever played football at the age of
06:0322 which is ridiculous, you might remember around February to March period of 2010 Barcelona
06:10played Arsenal at the Nou Camp and Messi scored four goals, one was a long shot from range
06:14on his left foot then one on his right foot from close range, a rebounded shot and then
06:18a solo one on one that was chipped over Almunia into the back of the net and then a solo goal
06:23driving through the heart of Arsenal's defence, jinxed in one way, going the other, passed
06:27for Marlon and burying it through Almunia's legs and it really was probably the first
06:32performance where people were really having to say what they saw, they could no longer
06:38pretend that it was offensive to compare this man to the likes of Pele, Maradona and Johan
06:44Cruyff, that's when people really started to do it.
06:47And then also in March of 2010 Barcelona went away to Real Zaragoza, why are you talking
06:52like that, you're from Stockport, Adam, stop it.
06:55Anyway Barcelona won that game 4-2 and Lionel Messi scored another hat trick after the Arsenal
06:59game and very generously gifted a penalty to Zlatan Ibrahimovic after winning it, he
07:03basically dragged the whole team on his back in that game as good as they were.
07:07In at number four I've gone for 2019, a lot of people really like to say that he ghosted
07:12that second leg at Anfield in that year but realistically if you look at the chances that
07:16he created in that first half, passes to Filip Coutinho, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, Barcelona
07:22really at least should have been level at half time in the break, they should not have
07:25lost that game full stop with the chances that Messi provided them.
07:28Irrespective of that there was also performances against Tottenham in the Champions League,
07:32there was the home leg against Liverpool with that free kick, you know the one, and of course
07:37that quite frankly scarily good dink against Real Batista way, which for me is probably
07:42in his top three goals ever, I don't know about you but just the audacity to attempt
07:45that was on another level.
07:47This was also the year that Messi got his record sixth Ballon d'Or separating him apart
07:51from the rest and making sure that he is the best.
07:54And also 2019 was Messi's last La Liga title with Barcelona which is significant but sad
07:59because it really painted a picture of the sorry state of affairs the club was in after,
08:05pretty much after Neymar left and when Bartomeu was in charge but we could do a whole video
08:10on that to be honest but Messi still carried them on his back for two more years.
08:13Okey dokey, in at number three, I mean any of them could win it at this point but I've
08:17gone for 2015.
08:19Now the reason being he won five trophies in this year, the UEFA Champions League, La
08:24Liga, Copa del Rey, European Super Cup and the Club World Cup as well, not bad, especially
08:29when you're playing from a deeper role while still being part of that MSN trio.
08:34He was predominantly on the right hand side but this is really where he started to drop
08:37back into midfield and sort of tick with Xabi Iniesta, Busquets even more than he was doing
08:41in that Pep Guardiola and Tata Martino system.
08:44So under Luis Enrique he still hugged the touchline, you remember that very famous goal
08:48in the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao which is probably his best goal ever,
08:54truth be told.
08:552015 also belonged to one of Messi's most iconic games, I'm sure you'll remember it,
08:59that home leg against Bayern Munich in the semi-final of the Champions League.
09:03He sort of just came to life didn't he, there was not much going on in the game, a little
09:06bit of a stalemate, both teams obviously playing fairly conservatively and not wanting to concede
09:11given the stakes of the game and then he just did what he does, he came to life, jinxed
09:16inside, beat Neuer and then decided to, I don't know how to put this politely, retire
09:23Jerome Boateng and then dink a prime Manuel Neuer on his weak foot.
09:27I mean it doesn't get much better than that, so for the amount of iconic moments in this
09:30year, for the fact that he was part of that famous MSN trio which was the best front three
09:34he was ever a part of categorically, undisputably, it has to go in at number three.
09:40And this could be argued as Messi's prime, it depends what you value in a footballer,
09:44how unplayable you think he was as opposed to other years, because obviously we've seen
09:47him be a slightly better goal scorer than he was this year, but as an all-rounded player
09:51and an all-rounded version of Lionel Messi, I don't think it gets much better than 2015
09:56to be honest.
09:58Number two is of course then 2011, another year Barcelona won the treble and a year where
10:04Messi was good at football again.
10:0759 goals and 37 assists in 2011, playing as a centre-forward false nine, that, oh my god.
10:15I mean it gets better, it gets better in the year after, but what is that, what is that?
10:20That is ridiculous.
10:21And of course you'll all remember this year as the year where Sergio Busquets racked up
10:24the assist of his career with that little lay-off to Lionel at the Bernabeu, Messi picked
10:29it up and had an easy finish from there really, beating 1-2-3-4 and then the goalkeeper, pretty
10:35standard stuff for the man.
10:36I've also had to put this in at number two because this was probably the apex of Pep
10:41Guardiola's Barcelona system, it didn't get much better than this.
10:44I think many people tout this as the best team of all time, you go through it, Valdez,
10:49Abidal, Pique, Puyol, Dani Alves, that midfield trio which was just, there's a genuine argument
10:56for that being the best midfield trio of all time, you could just put those three in and
10:59no one else and it'd be an acceptable opinion.
11:02And then Pedro, Messi and Villa just had the perfect balance of creativity and goal scoring
11:06threat and movement as well, it was really just the perfect team, I don't think anyone
11:11could lay a glove on them.
11:12So number one, you don't need me to tell you what it is, it is of course 2012 and you also
11:18know why, 91 goals in a calendar year, 91.
11:25The previous record was held by Gerd Muller of course with 85 in 1972 and Messi took it
11:30upon himself to not only beat it but just, you know, add six more on top just so no one
11:34else can get there really, just because he can.
11:37That year he averaged 65 minutes per goal and averaged 1.3 goals per game, just absolutely
11:44ludicrous.
11:45Add 22 assists on top of that as well and you have 113 goals and assists in a calendar
11:51year which is the best of any footballer ever so how could this not be number one just because
11:56of the sheer magnitude of what he was doing statistically, let alone on the eye test.
12:01Another reason why I had to put this number one is this was probably the height of the
12:04Messi-Ronaldo debate at the time and also not just Ronaldo fans but football fans in
12:09general could probably put forward a case that 2012 was also Ronaldo's best year in
12:14football.
12:1563 goals and 13 assists in 71 games is just inhuman in of itself but the level Messi reached
12:21that year just made it insurmountable and Ronaldo then was unable to win the Ballon
12:26d'Or that year in what was possibly his best year in the game.
12:29In that year he scored nine hat-tricks, two of them being four goal games and one of them
12:33being that five goal game against Bayer Leverkusen alone and the only real, I guess the only
12:39real sort of thing you could hold against Messi in that 2012 year was that game at the
12:45Nou Camp against Chelsea which I'm sure you remember 2-0 up against 10 men and somehow
12:49still lost the game.
12:50We all remember it but I guess Messi had the last laugh because he did score more goals
12:56than Chelsea in that calendar year.
12:58So you know, basically I had to put it number one because the numbers are just that ridiculous
13:03when compared to whole football clubs, other players at the top of their game, it really
13:08is just the definition of superhuman.
13:11Well there we go, that was my attempt I guess you could say at ranking Lionel Messi's Ballon
13:16d'Ors from worst to best.
13:18I'm not sure worst is really the right word to use truth be told because you know they
13:22were all pretty good years, I certainly couldn't do it but I felt like the video was necessary
13:27because this will be the man's last Ballon d'Or and you know just to pay a bit of homage
13:31to what has been a career like no other really, I know he's not retired yet so I'll just say
13:36one more thing, enjoy it while you can.
13:39You can let me know which of the Ballon d'Or winning years you thought was the best in
13:42the comments below, don't forget to subscribe and I will see you very soon.
13:47Bye bye.