The Ballon d'Or Is Lionel Messi's And The Barcelona Legend Is The 'Greatest Footballer Of His Generation'

Lionel Messi should continue to win the Ballon d'Or while he "plays at the top" after the Barcelona legend was hailed as "arguably" the best footballer of all time.

That is according to Madrid-based newspaper Marca, which insisted that the 34-year-old Argentine superstar is the "greatest footballer of his generation."

Messi has won France Football's coveted individual prize a record-breaking six times, ending the deadlock he once had with five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

And the Argentina captain is widely considered as one of the favourites to scoop the 2021 edition of the Ballon d'Or thanks to his scintillating form for club and country.

Messi lifted the Copa del Rey trophy with Barcelona last season, but Ronald Koeman's men were beaten to the La Liga title by Atletico Madrid.

However, the six-time Ballon d'Or winner scored an impressive 30 times in Spain's domestic league as he finished ahead of Karim Benzema as La Liga's top scorer.

Messi then ended his long silverware drought with Argentina this summer, with Lionel Scaloni's men beating Brazil 1-0 in the Copa America final.

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The Argentina international was named in the Team of the Tournament, as well as finishing alongside Luis Diaz for the top scorer award and scooping the best player award.

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Now, Marca has made a strong statement that the "Ballon d'Or is Messi's."

The Spanish publication also claimed that the fact Ronaldo is in touching distance of Messi's six Ballon d'Or wins "does a disservice to the Argentine."

PA

Marca's Conor Clancy wrote: "Forget everything else, the Ballon d'Or is Messi's. As long as Messi plays at the top, there is no footballer out there who should win the Ballon d'Or.

"Messi is the greatest footballer of his generation, and probably also of all time.

"That Cristiano Ronaldo -- with five -- is even within touching distance of Messi's six so far does a disservice to the Argentine, who has been far and away the greatest player of his generation and arguably of all time."

Jorginho believes that he should win the Ballon d'Or ahead of Messi after silverware success with both Chelsea and Italy.

Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola has thrown his support behind the 29-year-old Italian midfielder, saying that a Ballon d'Or win would be "deserved."

Topics: Football, Barcelona, Lionel Messi, France Football, Ballon d'Or, Spain, La Liga

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

@AdnanRiaz9