Journalist Didn't Have Messi, Van Dijk Or Ronaldo In Ballon d'Or Top Five

A Sri Lankan journalist elected to not include Lionel Messi, Virgil van Dijk or Cristiano Ronaldo in his Ballon d'Or top five.

The Ballon d'Or has been awarded by the French magazine since 1956 and sees their editorial staff put together the initial 30-man shortlist.

The crucial stage of voting then goes to leading journalists from all over the globe, with one vote per nation. And after the complete breakdown of each country's vote emerged, we see that the Sri Lanka's representative went very left-field with his choices.

Hafiz Marikar from Daily News picked Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold as his Ballon d'Or WINNER for 2019, with Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang second and Antoine Griezmann completing his top three.

Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich was his fourth choice, with Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen his fifth and final vote.

None of the final three - Messi, Van Dijk and Ronaldo - featured in his list.

Last year, the very same bloke went for Eden Hazard, Roberto Firmino and Paul Pogba in his top three. It seems as though he's voting using a random name generator when picking his votes for the most precious individual prize in football.

As expected, there was plenty of country bias as the likes of Netherlands, Portugal, Argentina and Egypt all put their respective players in the No.1 spot.

There were some sensible votes, however, which ultimately culminated in Lionel Messi winning his first Ballon d'Or since 2015 and claiming the coveted award for a record-breaking sixth time.

Here is every single vote in full: