Lionel Messi has spoken out after winning the Ballon d’Or which Liverpool star Mohamed Salah was also nominated for.
The Reds forward was one of 30 nominees for the prestigious award, but it was not to be the day for the Egyptian to get his hands on the trophy.
Messi won the award for a record seventh time, ahead of Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski.
Salah finished seventh in the overall rankings, ahead of Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne who was ranked eighth but below Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo who occupied sixth spot.
The top five was made up by Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante (5th), Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema (4th) and another Chelsea midfielder in Jorginho (3rd).
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Plenty of Liverpool fans expressed their displeasure at seeing Salah only finish in seventh spot, with many believing the forward deserved to be much higher up the rankings, if not the winner.
After being confirmed as the winner, Messi gave an acceptance speech where he sent a message to runner-up Lewandowski, who he sat alongside for the ceremony.
“Robert, you deserve your Ballon D'Or,” said Messi.
“Last year, everyone was in agreement to say that you were the big winner of this award."
The forward was also asked about his Paris Saint-Germain future after joining on a free transfer from Barcelona in the summer.
Messi said: “Today I’m here in Paris. I am very happy, really very happy, I really want to continue to fight and reach new objectives.
"I don't know how many more years but I am really enjoying myself. I thank my team-mates at Barcelona, PSG & Argentina."
This was the first time that Ballon d’Or was hosted since 2019, which Messi also won, with the 2020 ceremony postponed due to the pandemic.
