A fan has made a compilation 'proving' that Lionel Messi should have won the UEFA Best Men's Player award instead of Virgil van Dijk.
On Thursday night the Dutchman became the first defender and first Premier League to win the coveted award, beating Messi by nearly 100 points in the vote.
A jury comprising of 80 coaches that participated in the group stages of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League voted for their best player.
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Coaches who participated in the Europa League voted along with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group.
The former Southampton man's win comes after he lifted the Champions League with Liverpool and picked up the Man of the Match award in the final against Spurs in Madrid.
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Bu Twitter user @MessiLob was seriously annoyed that Messi wasn't properly recognised for his 54-goal haul for club and country and posted a two minute highlight reel of the Argentine's best bits, complete with the caption, "You can never convince me that a defender is a better footballer than this man".
Messi was breathtakingly brilliant once again and single-handedly fired Barcelona to a La Liga triumph, but it's also difficult to argue against the year Van Dijk had.
Now comfortably the world's best defender, Van Dijk was quick to stress that his success has not happened overnight and his journey has been long and arduous.
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"I wasn't 18 and went straight to the top," the Dutch defender said after collecting the award on stage.
"I had to work every step of the way. It's been a long road and it's part of my journey. I'm very proud to get this trophy. It's credit to everyone who has helped me."
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Liverpool, Football News, FC Barcelona, Football, Messi, Lionel Messi, Virgil Van Dijk
