Sixth Ballon d’Or reminds us that Messi’s standard is better than everyone else’s best

Lionel Messi won his record sixth Ballon d’Or on Monday, a reminder that even his seemingly standard seasons are better than other players’ career year.

In an alternate universe, maybe even any other universe than this one, Virgil Van Dijk would have got his hands on world soccer’s most prestigious golden ball on Monday. The Dutch defender, on the back of an astonishing 2019 for club and country, would have been named the best player on the planet. Lionel Messi, though, isn’t really from this planet. At least his talents aren’t.

2019 wasn’t exactly a vintage year for Messi, not by his standards anyway. Barcelona won an eighth La Liga title in 11 years, but the Catalans’ season was instead defined by a Champions League collapse at Anfield – to Van Dijk’s Liverpool side – and a defeat in the final of the Copa del Rey to Valencia.

When the eulogies are one day written of Messi’s career, they will tell tales of 2009 and 2011 and 2012 and 2014 and 2015. 2019 won’t feature much. But in a way, this just underlines Messi’s otherworldly brilliance. What was a fairly routine year for him was still utterly stupendous by anyone else’s standards as he picked up a record sixth Ballon d’Or.

Messi netted 46 times in 54 appearances for club and country over the calendar year, also notching 17 assists in the process. Considering that the Argentine was forced to spend two prolonged spells on the sideline in 2019, and that he is dropping deeper and deeper as more of a driving force through midfield than the apex of Barcelona’s attack, these numbers are highly impressive.

Robert Lewandowski is the only player in Europe’s top five leagues to score more than Messi in 2019, with the Bayern Munich man playing as a more orthodox frontman than his Argentine counterpart. Goals and assists still only do so much to illustrate what Messi provides on a pitch. As the greatest soccer player of all-time, there are no numbers that can effectively quantify his genius.

It’s apparent almost every time Messi takes the field for Barcelona, and perhaps even more so when he doesn’t. It would be overblown to describe Barca as a one-man team, but without Messi they are a side without an identity, without a style of play and often without a hope. Injury sidelined the Argentine until the start of October. Without him, Barca won just four of eight games. After Messi’s return, the Catalans won five on the spin.

The greatest mark of Messi’s magnificence comes in the way he has made the extraordinary routine, mundane even. The 32-year-old scored a stunning late winner for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid on Sunday, dribbling in off the right wing, playing a one-two with Luis Suarez and curling a left-footed strike into the far corner of the net, and yet this was nothing out of the ordinary.

Messi has made this his trademark move. He pulls it off on a near weekly basis. Everyone at the Wanda Metropolitano knew what was about to happen, they’ve seen it often enough before, yet nobody could stop it.

Of course, there is a fundamental flaw in the way the Ballon d’Or and other individual awards pit players of different skill sets and positions directly against each other. How can Van Dijk, a commanding center back, be compared to Messi, a dazzling dribbler and all-round attacking force, for instance? How can Alisson Becker, who finished seventh in this year’s Ballon d’Or voting, be fairly equated to Cristiano Ronaldo, who finished third?

Nonetheless, Messi’s magnificence deserves to be marked. Now 32, the great man is entering the twilight of his career. Many expect Messi to become more of a midfielder in the Andres Iniesta mold in the coming years. After all, the Argentine isn’t just a goalscorer, but a playmaker and a pace-setter as well. Goals and assists might not fully illustrate Messi’s artistry forever, but his typical level may just continue to be better than everyone else’s best.