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Once the most expensive English player of all time and former Liverpool forward Stan Collymore, in an interview with Daily Mirror revealed that he believes Lionel Messi and Virgil van Dijk are more important to their respective clubs than Cristiano Ronaldo is to the Bianconeri. The former England international said: Virgil van Dijk and Lionel Messi are now the two most important players to their teams in world football. "Take Van Dijk out of Liverpool and Messi out of Barcelona, and not only is there a material change in playing quality, but, as importantly, in the attitude of the team. "Van Dijk is now more important than Cristiano Ronaldo." Messi and Van Dijk were Cristiano Ronaldo's fiercest rivals in the final 2019 Ballon d'Or ranking. Messi came first, Van Dijk second, and Ronaldo third. In your opinion, is the five-time Ballon d'Or winner less important to Juventus than Messi and Van Dijk are to Barcelona and Liverpool respectively? Let u

The winners of the 2019 World Soccer Awards have been announced in World Soccer's January edition. Messi was named World Soccer's Player of the Year, Jurgen Klopp - Manager of the Year, and Liverpool - Team of the Year. Messi edged out Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk by a slim margin, with just 11 more votes than the Liverpool defender (613 to 602). Messi has now won the World Soccer's Player of the Year award five times - 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, and now, 2019, matching Cristiano Ronaldo. The latter was ranked fourth best this year. Luka Modric who won the gong last year finished forty-fourth this year. Since 2009, the winner of the award has either been a Barcelona or Real Madrid player.  The World Soccer Awards being non-gender specific in nature saw the the USA's Megan Rapinoe - the leading female vote-getter - ranked 21st best player.  Jurgen Klopp won the Manager of the Year award, beating rival Pep Guardiola by a large margin - 67 votes to 2 votes. Guar

At the Ballon d'Or ceremony yesterday, Messi claimed his sixth Ballon d'Or award and Liverpool defender Van Dijk finished second. Ronaldo failed to attend the ceremony, choosing to attend the Gran Gala del Calcio in Milan. At the Ballon d'Or ceremony, during an interview with dutch broadcaster RTL7, Van Dijk was asked if Ronaldo's failure to show up at the ceremony meant that he had one less rival to compete with for the Ballon d'Or, he responded, "Was he a rival then?" Ronaldo's sister Katia Aveiro did not take the joke lightly and took to Instagram to vent her anger.  "Now, dear Virgil, where you are going, Cristiano Ronaldo has gone and has come [back] a thousand times," she started. "You see, my dear Virgil, that Cristiano Ronaldo was a three-times champion in the country where you have been playing for years and you still haven't got your hands on the trophy. "Cristiano Ronaldo was even the best player and be

He came, he saw, and he conquered. Barcelona star Lionel Messi was awarded the 2019 Ballon d'Or at a star-studded ceremony in Paris on Monday evening. Messi saw off strong competition from Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk to lift the world's best player trophy for a record sixth time, and for the first time since 2015. Messi won his first Ballon d'Or in 2009, after claiming the treble under Pep Guardiola. He went on to win again in 2010, 2011, and 2012. He claimed the award again in 2015 after Cristiano Ronaldo's two successive wins in 2013 and 2014. Messi is the first player in history to win six Ballon d'Or awards. Next in line is Cristiano Ronaldo with five. Messi won quite the lot of silverware this year with the likes of La Liga, Super Copa, the Golden Boot (for being Europe's leading goalscorer), the Pichichi (for being Spain's leading marksman), FIFA Men's Player of the Year, and being the Champions League's leading goalscorer (12 goals).

It's no secret that Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp has a lot of admiration for Lionel Messi. However, when it comes to who deserves to win the Ballon d'Or this year, Klopp doesn't think it should be him as he believes Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk was the better performer over the year.  "If you give the Ballon d'Or to the best player of this generation then you should give it always to Lionel Messi. That's how it is," Klopp said. "But if you give it to the best player of last season, then it was Virgil van Dijk. I don't know exactly how it will work but that is how I see it. "The best player of all? That's Lionel. Best player of last season? That's Virgil. We will see." Should Van Dijk win the Ballon d'Or in December, he'll be the first defender since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 to claim the honor. Lionel Messi last won the Ballon d'Or in 2015. Should he claim it again this year, he would be ahead of Cris

Football's greatest individual award - the Ballon d'Or will be handed out to the best male and female footballers for the calendar year on December 2, 2019, which is just a week away. Speculations about who might wind abound, with Real Madrid's Eden Hazard being one of the most recent players to cheap in their opinion on who the winner of the coveted award should be. He told Le Parisien, " I would give it to a Liverpool player. "Mané, Salah or Van Djik deserve it. If Sadio had won AFCON with Senegal, there would have been no debate. It would be beautiful if he won it. Or Momo (Salah), who is one of my friends. It would be a good thing for both African and English football," he continued. The five top contenders for the award according to public opinion are Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

30 footballers have been shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or award - the most prestigious individual honor in football. Last year's Ballon d'Or winner Luka Modric didn't make the cut this time. First-time nominees included the likes of Raheem Sterling, Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dusan Tadic, Donny van de Beek, Marc-Andre ter Stergen, Bernado Silva, Heung-min Son, Kalidou Koulibaly, Joao Felix and Marquinhos. Liverpool has the most nominees - seven, with Manchester City following with five. La Liga Santander big guns Barccelona and Real Madrid have four and two nominees respectively. Herewith the complete 30-man shortlist: Ajax:  Donny van de Beek, Dusan Tadic.  Arsenal:  Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.  Atletico Madrid:  Joao Felix Barcelona:  Frenkie de Jong, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann.  Bayern Munich:  Robert Lewandowski.  Juventus:  Cristiano Ronaldo, Matthj

Sorry Liverpool, no hat-trick of triumphs for you tonight. Lionel Messi and not Virgil van Dijk wins FIFA  Men's Footballer of the Year Award. Messi beat Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo to win the award, which happens to be his sixth FIFA Footballer of the Year Award. Virgil Van Dijk came second, and Cristiano Ronaldo, third. Ronaldo was not in attendance this year, same as last year. Messi is now one major step ahead of Ronaldo in terms of  FIFA Footballer of the Year Awards, he has six, while Ronaldo has five. Messi's exploits for the 2018/2019 football season include: His 51 goals for Barcelona in 2018-19 - the highest in the top five European Leagues (England, Spain, Italy, France & Germany) and a country mile ahead of Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski who scored 11 goals fewer. Helping Barcelona reach the Champions League semi-final and Copa del Rey final. Claiming the European Golden Shoe as the Europe's top goalscorer  Being La Liga's

FIFA has unveiled a list of finalists for all eight categories of its awards. The final list of hopefuls was unveiled at the iconic San Siro stadium in Milan. A new award was included - The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper. Virgil van Dijk who was named the UEFA Player of the Year last week, finishing ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, will go head-to-head with them again for the FIFA Best Men's Player award and probably the Ballon d'Or when it is announced later this year. Here's the list of finalists in all eight categories: The Best FIFA Men’s Player Cristiano Ronaldo  (POR) - Juventus Lionel Messi  (ARG) – FC Barcelona Virgil van Dijk  (NED) - Liverpool The Best FIFA Women’s Player Lucy Bronze  (ENG) – Olympique Lyonnais Alex Morgan  (USA) – Orlando Pride Megan Rapinoe  (USA) – Reign FC The Best FIFA Men’s Coach Pep Guardiola  (ESP) – Manchester City Jurgen Klopp  (GER) – Liverpool Mauricio Pochettino  (ARG) – Tottenham Hotspur

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi came up short of the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award but was named UEFA Forward of the Year at the UEFA Champions League draw. Messi finished ahead of rivals Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus and Sadio  Mané  of Liverpool. Messi finished as the Champions League's top scorer with 12 goals, despite Barcelona being eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual winners Liverpool. Here's the Forward of the Season top ten: 1  Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 285 points 2  Sadio Mané (Liverpool) – 109 points 3  Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) – 91 points 4  Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – 83 points 5  Dušan Tadić (Ajax) – 35 points 6  Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) – 15 points 7  Robert Lewandowski (Bayern) – 10 points 8 Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) – 9 points 8  Harry Kane (Tottenham) – 9 points 10  Leroy Sané (Manchester City) – 6 points Barcelona's Dutchman, Frenkie de Jong claimed Midfielder of the Year - ahead of fellow nominees Chris

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has been crowned the UEFA Men's Player of the Year for his stellar performances during last season's Champions League.   The Dutchman played a pivotal role Liverpool's success at the 2018/2019 Champions League season and represented the Netherlands at the UEFA Nations League finals, with the Oranje finishing as runners-up in the inaugural edition of the tournament. The center-back beat superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to the award.  He also claimed the Defender of the Year award, while Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker was named UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season. In the 36 games Van Dijk played last season, no opposition player managed to complete a single dribble past him. Manchester United legend Eric Cantona was honored with the prestigious UEFA President's Award, personally selected by current UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin. Lionel Messi was named Forward of the Year while his Barcelona t

The UEFA Champions League group stage draws for this season held today alongside the UEFA awards for the past season. In attendance were awards nominees such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk. The inseparable rivals - Messi and Ronaldo - sat side by side at the ceremony, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The pair have helped their respective teams win domestic and European trophies while scooping most individual prizes along their way. As Ronaldo's recent comments suggest, the rivalry between himself and Messi may be a friendly one.  He invited the Barcelona star for a night together. "We shared the stage 15 years, me and him," said Ronaldo, sitting next to Messi. "I don't know if its ever happened in football, the same two guys, in the same stage, all the time. So … it's not easy. Of course, we have good relationship. We not have dinner together yet, but I hope in the future.  "Of course I miss playing in Spain," he a

A jury of 80 coaches who competed in last season's Champions League and Europa League, and 55 journalists have chosen their top three nominees for the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award. The first list consisted of 10 players, including Messi, Ronaldo, Van Dijk, Hazard and others. After the first votes, Messi, Van Dijk and Ronaldo emerged top three. Alisson Becker, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah claimed fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively. Eden Hazard was seventh, Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong claimed eighth and nineth after their stunning season with Ajax. Raheem Sterling claimed tenth. The winner of the trio will be announced on Thursday, August 29 during the Champions League draw in Monaco. Virgil van Dijk, the talismanic Liverpool defender, was voted both the Premier League Player of the Season and the Players' Player of the Year. He played a pivotal role in Liverpool's sixth Champions League triumph. He was also the only man to play more than

UEFA's three-man shortlists for each of the 2018/19  Champions League positional awards have been revealed. Liverpool who won the Champions League dominate the shortlists, with five of their players being nominated. Two of the Reds' defenders - Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk, goalkeeper Alisson Becker, captain Johan Henderson and forward Sadio Mané were shortlisted. The shortlisted players per category are: Goalkeepers : Alisson Becker (Liverpool), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona) Defenders : Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax, now Juventus), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) Midfielders : Frenkie de Jong (Ajax, now Barcelona), Christian Eriksen (Tottenham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) Forwards : Sadio Mané (Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) The winners will be announced during the draw for the 2019/20 Champions League Group Stage on August 29, 2019. .

Barcelona talisman Lionel and Juventus ace Cristiano Ronaldo lead a list of 10 nominees for the prestigious The Best FIFA Men's Player award. Last year's winner, FIFA World Cup hero Luka Modric, was not among the nominees. The other eight contenders include: Liverpool trio - Mohammed Salah, Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk; former Ajax duo Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt; Tottenham striker Harry Kane, former Chelsea superstar Eden Hazard; and PSG wonderkid Kylian Mbappe. Kylian Mbappe finished fourth in last year's vote. This year, he became the first player to win Ligue 1's Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards in the same season. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo count La Liga and Serie A among their achievements over the course of the last year. Eden Hazard won the UEFA Europa League with Chelsea before leaving for real Madrid this summer. The voting of The Best FIFA Men's Player takes into consideration all the players' achievem

Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal beat the Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League final, earning Ronaldo his second international trophy. The 34-year-old Juventus forward has earned worldwide recognition for the consistency he's displayed all through his career. "There hasn't been a period where I've played badly, the numbers speak for themselves over the last 16 years," he said. "I've shown for the majority of my career, independently of what people say, the numbers speak for themselves. "It all helps, collective and individual trophies, but I'm not obsessed by trophies," he added. "Obviously I like them, I'm not going to lie." Cristiano Ronaldo may now be in contention for the Ballon d'Or having added a third piece of silverware to his achievements this year. Messi and Virgil van Dijk are however favorites in this year's Ballon d'Or race. "I've won three trophies, I've played well, wha

Georginio Wijnaldum has backed his club and international teammate Virgil van Dik for this year's Ballon d'Or.  On Saturday, Wijnaldum said, "He already had a good season, he is trying to stop everyone, that's the way he's playing. "For us he's the best defender in the world. If you look at his season, he definitely deserves the Ballon d'Or but it's not up to us to decide." Having scooped individual prizes such as the PFA's Premier League Player of the Year award, Van Dijk could become the first defender in 13 years to win the world's best player award. He was also named Man of the Match for the Reds’ Champions League final victory over Tottenham, and is preparing to take on his ultimate challenge of the season in Portugal, in the final of the UEFA Nations League today. The Netherlands take on Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, who are in the finals thanks to Ronaldo's hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Switzerland on Wednesda